A multistate E. coli outbreak linked to lettuce grown in Salinas has sickened 102 people, including four in California, health officials said Wednesday.
At least 62 new cases were reported since the outbreak was first announced in November, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. No new patients have been reported in California.
The illnesses stretched across 23 states, with 33 patients reported in Wisconsin — the highest number of those sickened in the outbreak.
Health officials told those who bought the Salinas-grown lettuce to refrain from eating it and throw it away. Customers were also told to sanitize their refrigerators to make sure the bacteria doesn’t spread. Those who aren’t sure where their lettuce was grown should also avoid eating it, CDC officials advised.
Those sickened range in age from 1 to 89 years old, and 58 of them have been hospitalized after eating the lettuce. Some suffered kidney failure because of the contaminated greens, according to a CDC report.
The cause of the contamination remains under investigation.
The same E. coli strain infected Salinas-grown romaine lettuce during the same time last year, prompting officials to warn of a similar outbreak that sickened 62 people in 16 states.