Well, this just landed in my inbox:
FDA and CDC are investigating a cluster of 11 cases of E. coli O157:H7 from 4 states: Maine(4), New Hampshire(1), Nevada(1), and Vermont(5). Illness onset dates range from November 19, 2019 to December 4, 2019. Patients range in age from 3 years to 41 years (median 12 years), and 55% are female. Five (45%) of patients were hospitalized, and no deaths were reported. Bacteria from all the ill people were closely related genetically by whole genome sequencing (WGS). In interviews, 9 (82%) of 11 people reported eating at locations of the same national sandwich restaurant chain in Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont. Eight (89%) of the 9 people who ate at the restaurant chain reported eating lettuce. Lettuce was the only ingredient reported by over half the ill people. CDC has not identified any other foods eaten by ill people that were linked to illness. The epidemiological investigation suggests that the illnesses could be associated with iceberg lettuce.
Perhaps people in food safety are concerned that this outbreak might be swept under the rug and that the farm where the lettuce was grown and the “national sandwich restaurant chain in Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont,” will not be named?