Romaine lettuce that probably was tainted before it reached a local supermarket chain was the likely source of the E. coli outbreak that sickened 37 people in Missouri in October and November, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported on Wednesday.
The supermarket is thought to have been Schnucks. In the CDC report, it is identified only as "grocery store Chain A." The agency said 60 people in 10 states eventually were infected. A CDC spokeswoman had no immediate information on which company supplied the lettuce.
Of the 37 cases in Missouri, 27 were in St. Louis County, three in St. Louis city, two each in St. Charles, Jefferson and Boone counties, and one in Christian County, according to Jacqueline Lapine, spokewoman for the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services.
Because the outbreak appeared to have ended, the CDC said consumers were not being advised to avoid eating any specific foods. Soon after St. Louis area residents were sickened by what turned out to be E. coli O157:H7, public health officials began focusing on salad bars at some Schnucks stores. That was because many, but not all, of the victims reported eating food from salad bars at various Schnucks locations.
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