218 sick

28 with hemolytic uremic syndrome

5 deaths

In 2018 in the United Sates, 210 people infected with the outbreak strain of E. coli O157 were reported from 36 states. 96 people were hospitalized, including 27 people who developed a type of kidney failure called hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS). 5 deaths were reported from Arkansas, California, Minnesota (2), and New York. In Canada, 8 cases of E. coli O157 that were genetically similar to the U.S. outbreak linked to romaine lettuce coming from the Yuma growing region in the U.S. The 8 Canadian illnesses were reported in 5 provinces: British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario and Quebec. 1 of the Canadian cases was hospitalized with HUS and no deaths were reported in Canada.

Health officials in both Canada and the U.S. have worked hard to do the hard epidemiological and environmental investigations that lead to traceback and root cause analysis that lead to new ways of preventing these tragedies for the consumers and the producers.  However, the hard work is essentially done in obscurity with little or no transparency.  Through the litigation process we are cracking open the door so the public can see both where product was grown (more to come on that in the coming weeks) and were the product was sold.

CDC

FDA