Poopy lettuce at Wendy’s still prime suspect in outbreak that just doubled
Enlarge / A Wendy's old-fashion burger. Romaine lettuce on Wendy's burgers is thought to be the cause of the outbreak. (credit: Getty | Francis Dean)
A multistate outbreak of E. coli O157 infections linked to romaine lettuce on Wendy's burgers has more than doubled since last week, according to an update from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The case count now stands at 84 and spans four states: Indiana (6), Michigan (53), Ohio (23), and Pennsylvania (2). That's up from last week's case tally of 37 from the same four states. Currently, at least 38 of the people sickened have been hospitalized. Eight of those people, all in Michigan, have developed a serious and potentially life-threatening type of kidney failure called hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), the CDC reports. No deaths have been reported. So far, the people sickened range in age from 5 to 94 years, with a median age of 24.
Because of reporting lags, the CDC warns that "the true number of sick people in this outbreak is likely higher than the number reported, and the outbreak may not be limited to the states with known illnesses."