Is there a salad E. coli outbreak in Wisconsin? Over the last week, there has been such a significant increase in the number of E. coli O157: H7 infections throughout Wisconsin that state health officials are treating it as an outbreak, according to a memo issued by Ryan P. Westergaard, MD, PhD, MPH Chief Medical Officer and State Epidemiologist for Communicable Disease in Wisconsin.
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The outbreak includes at least nine cases in Wisconsin and may also include cases in Illinois. Some of the people sickened, including children, have been hospitalized. Three women recently hospitalized in northwest WI told outbreak investigators that say they eat a lot of salad. To solve the outbreak, health officials will be looking to see what foods all case-patients ate before they became ill.
Leafy greens are a common source of E.coli outbreaks and research has shown that the number of E. coli outbreaks linked to leafy greens has been increasing. In the last 24 months alone there have been four major E. coli outbreaks linked to leafy greens. Romaine lettuce was identified as the specific source of three of those outbreaks. The most recent romaine lettuce E. coli outbreak sickened 23 people in 12 states between July and September of this year. Eleven people were hospitalized.
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Pritzker Hageman E. coli lawyers have represented clients sickened in every major outbreak over the last 20 years – including this one. If you have been sickened in this outbreak, we want to represent you, too. For a free consultation, call us at 1-888-377-8900, text us at 612-261-0856 or, fill out the form below.