First death in multi-state E.Coli outbreak confirmed in California: CDC

At least one person has died and over 120 sickened in a multi-state E. Coli outbreak linked to romaine lettuce, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Wednesday.

The death occurred in California, and 23 more ill people from 10 states were added to previous estimates in the investigation that has been ongoing since March.

The CDC has identified the source of the outbreak as romaine lettuce grown in the region of Yuma, Arizona.

Fifty-two people have been hospitalized and of those, 14 developed hemolytic uremic syndrome, a type of kidney failure.

The outbreak, first identified in March, has spread to 25 states and sickened 121 people. Patients range in age from one-year-old to 88-years-old, with the average age 29. Sixty-three percent of those who fell sick are female.

The strain is E. coli O157:H7 and an infection can produce severe stomach cramps, bloody diarrhea and vommitting. Some people will develop a fever and symptoms can resolve themselves within a week, but can develop more seriously and become life-threatening.

The CDC announced Wednesday that they added three more states to the outbreak, Kentucky, Massachusetts and Utah.

The majority of sick people have been reported in California and Pennsylvania, with slightly lower case counts in Montana, Idaho, Arizona, New Jersey and Alaska.

Other states reporting people sickened by E. Coli include Washington, Michigan, Utah, Colorado, South Dakota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Missouri, Mississippi, Louisiana, Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, Virginia, Georgia, New York, Connecticut and Massachusetts.

The CDC is warning the public to avoid buying romaine lettuce believed to be grown in Yuma, Arizona, although not all packaging identifies growing regions and suggests only buying products clearly labeled. This includes includes whole heads and hearts of romaine, chopped romaine, baby romaine, organic romaine, and salads and salad mixes containing romaine lettuce.