WASHINGTON, Sept. 15 (Xinhua) -- The deadly E. coli outbreak has spread to the 10th state in the United States, and the federal health agency warned consumers nationwide not to eat the suspected bagged spinach, according to U.S. media reports on Friday.
The original outbreak was reported Thursday in the eight states of Connecticut, Idaho, Indiana, Michigan, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah and Wisconsin. On Friday, Ohio and Kentucky brought the tally to 10, as additional reports trickled in to state and federal health officials.
Till now, at least one person died and dozens of others were sickened in the 10-state outbreak.
To date, preliminary epidemiological evidence suggests that bagged fresh spinach may be a possible cause of this outbreak of E.coli O157:H7, said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
It has issued an alert that advised consumers not to eat bagged fresh spinach at this time, even washing it would not solve the problem because the bacteria are too tightly attached, said FDA health officials.
In the meantime, U.S. supermarkets cleared shelves of bagged fresh spinach on Friday.
Officials believes the spinach may have been grown in California, and federal and state health officials were there trying to seek the source of the contamination.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said that E. coli O157:H7 is one of hundreds of strains of the bacterium Escherichia coli. Although most strains are harmless and live in the intestines of healthy humans and animals, this strain produces a powerful toxin and can cause severe illness. Enditem
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