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E. coli outbreak from California-grown romaine: by the numbers

San Jose Mercury News - 11/28/2018

Nov. 28--Following an outbreak of E. coli linked to romaine lettuce made people sick across the United States and Canada, the Food and Drug Administration has lifted its ban on the product -- unless it came from California. Two weeks after federal investigators started their probe into the outbreak tied to a nasty strain of E. coli, officials confirmed that the strain was linked to lettuce grown in certain swaths of the Golden State.

"Over the Thanksgiving holiday, the FDA continued to investigate the outbreak," FDA commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb said in a statement. "Our investigation at this point suggests that romaine lettuce associated with the outbreak comes from areas of California that grow romaine lettuce over the summer months, and that the outbreak appears to be related to 'end of season' romaine lettuce harvested from these areas."

The FDA cautioned that "if you do not know where your romaine lettuce is from, do not eat it."

Here's a look at the outbreak, by the latest numbers, which come from the FDA unless otherwise noted:

43: number of people sickened by the E. coli-tainted lettuce

12: number of states where those patients lived

16: number of those people hospitalized

22: number of people sickened in Canada

8-31: date range in October during which the illnesses started

20: the average number of days during this outbreak between the time a person became ill and the time the illness was reported to CDC

O157:H7: one of thousands of serotypes of E. coli (a distinct variation within a species of bacteria) and the culprit in this recent outbreak

1982: the year in which E. coli O157:H7 was first recognized as a pathogen

5-7: number of days it takes most patients to feel better

101: the highest number of degrees in Fahrenheit that an E. coli-induced fever usually reaches

5-10: percentage range of those E. coli patients who are diagnosed with a STEC (Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli) infection that develops a potentially life-threatening complication, known as hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS)

65: the age over which people are more likely to develop a severe illness from an E. coli infection

5: the age under which people are more likely than others to develop a severe illness

5: the number of steps the FDA advises to clean out a refrigerator after an outbreak (1. Throw out recalled food; 2. Empty refrigerator; 3. Wash removable parts; 4. Clean and sanitize inside the refrigerator; and 5. Return shelves, drawers and food)

1-84: age range of those reportedly sickened during the outbreak, according to the CDC

25: the median age of those reporting the illness

69: percentage of sickened people who are female

48 million: the estimated number of Americans, according to the CDC, who get sick every year from a food-borne illness

128,000: number of those people who end up in the hospital

3,000: number of those stricken who die

0: number of deaths in the recent E. coli outbreak

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