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http://www.cnn.com/2006/HEALTH/12/08/ecoli.outbreak/index.html
NEW YORK (CNN) -- More than 120 people in six states may be infected with
the strain of E. coli bacteria involved in an outbreak that may be linked to
Taco Bell restaurants, officials said Friday.
Sixty-three people have been confirmed to have the illness, the Food and
Drug Administration said Friday afternoon, and state health agencies,
earlier said about 60 other cases were under investigation. South Carolina
and Utah are the latest states to report outbreaks.
State and federal agencies are still trying to pin down the source, but the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the vast majority of the
reported cases involved people who had eaten at Taco Bell restaurants before
falling ill.
Dr. Greg Braden of the CDC said his agency and state health departments have
not seen any other sources of the illness and are zeroing in on Taco Bell
and its suppliers.
"We have some leads to say that it might be green onions, and that's based
upon some preliminary testing that's been done in a number of laboratories
right now," Braden said, "but the testing has not been confirmed, so we're
keeping the options open, and the investigations that we're doing will be
covering a wide range of foods, all of them served at Taco Bell
specifically."
On a voice recording for consumers looking for more information on E. coli,
Taco Bell says, "Many of the people who reported becoming ill did not eat at
Taco Bell."
Representatives for the company could not provide an updated count of
consumers who contracted E. coli after eating at its restaurants. Instead
they referred CNN to the health departments of the states where cases have
been identified or are suspected: New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania,
Delaware, South Carolina and Utah.
No case in Connecticut
Earlier this week, state health officials in Connecticut suspected one case
of E. coli, according to the FDA, but William Gerrish of the state's
department of health told CNN Friday that there are no cases in the state.
On Wednesday, Taco Bell said it had ordered the removal of all green onions
from its 5,800 outlets nationwide, after three samples tested by an
independent laboratory were found to be positive for E. coli.
New Jersey health officials earlier this week focused attention on a food
distribution warehouse in Burlington. Taco Bell would not confirm that the
warehouse, operated by McLane Foodservice Inc., was being investigated.
Ready Pac, a food distribution company that supplies Taco Bell's Northeast
operations through a processing plant in Florence, New Jersey, says it
stopped producing and shipping green onions to the restaurant's franchises
on Wednesday after reports of the outbreak.
The company released a statement saying it is working with regulatory
agencies and industry experts to determine the source of the bacteria.
Boskovich Farms in Oxnard, California, is a main provider of green onions to
Taco Bell, but the company says it has not been contacted by the FDA or any
government agencies although it is aware of the E. coli outbreak. The
company said in a written statement that it is working closely with Taco
Bell and Ready Pac to pinpoint the source of the bacteria.
Two lawsuits relating to the outbreak have been filed against Taco Bell and
its parent company, Yum Brands. The first was filed by the family of an
11-year-old New York boy, Tyler Vormittag. It claims the boy contracted E.
coli after eating at a Taco Bell on November 24 in Riverdale.
The second lawsuit was filed on behalf of Stephen Minnis of Montgomery
County, Pennsylvania. Minnis, who was hospitalized twice because of symptoms
related to the E. coli bacteria, is also filing suit against Boskovich
Farms, according to his attorney, Drew Falkenstein.
NEW YORK (CNN) -- More than 120 people in six states may be infected with
the strain of E. coli bacteria involved in an outbreak that may be linked to
Taco Bell restaurants, officials said Friday.
Sixty-three people have been confirmed to have the illness, the Food and
Drug Administration said Friday afternoon, and state health agencies,
earlier said about 60 other cases were under investigation. South Carolina
and Utah are the latest states to report outbreaks.
State and federal agencies are still trying to pin down the source, but the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the vast majority of the
reported cases involved people who had eaten at Taco Bell restaurants before
falling ill.
Dr. Greg Braden of the CDC said his agency and state health departments have
not seen any other sources of the illness and are zeroing in on Taco Bell
and its suppliers.
"We have some leads to say that it might be green onions, and that's based
upon some preliminary testing that's been done in a number of laboratories
right now," Braden said, "but the testing has not been confirmed, so we're
keeping the options open, and the investigations that we're doing will be
covering a wide range of foods, all of them served at Taco Bell
specifically."
On a voice recording for consumers looking for more information on E. coli,
Taco Bell says, "Many of the people who reported becoming ill did not eat at
Taco Bell."
Representatives for the company could not provide an updated count of
consumers who contracted E. coli after eating at its restaurants. Instead
they referred CNN to the health departments of the states where cases have
been identified or are suspected: New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania,
Delaware, South Carolina and Utah.
No case in Connecticut
Earlier this week, state health officials in Connecticut suspected one case
of E. coli, according to the FDA, but William Gerrish of the state's
department of health told CNN Friday that there are no cases in the state.
On Wednesday, Taco Bell said it had ordered the removal of all green onions
from its 5,800 outlets nationwide, after three samples tested by an
independent laboratory were found to be positive for E. coli.
New Jersey health officials earlier this week focused attention on a food
distribution warehouse in Burlington. Taco Bell would not confirm that the
warehouse, operated by McLane Foodservice Inc., was being investigated.
Ready Pac, a food distribution company that supplies Taco Bell's Northeast
operations through a processing plant in Florence, New Jersey, says it
stopped producing and shipping green onions to the restaurant's franchises
on Wednesday after reports of the outbreak.
The company released a statement saying it is working with regulatory
agencies and industry experts to determine the source of the bacteria.
Boskovich Farms in Oxnard, California, is a main provider of green onions to
Taco Bell, but the company says it has not been contacted by the FDA or any
government agencies although it is aware of the E. coli outbreak. The
company said in a written statement that it is working closely with Taco
Bell and Ready Pac to pinpoint the source of the bacteria.
Two lawsuits relating to the outbreak have been filed against Taco Bell and
its parent company, Yum Brands. The first was filed by the family of an
11-year-old New York boy, Tyler Vormittag. It claims the boy contracted E.
coli after eating at a Taco Bell on November 24 in Riverdale.
The second lawsuit was filed on behalf of Stephen Minnis of Montgomery
County, Pennsylvania. Minnis, who was hospitalized twice because of symptoms
related to the E. coli bacteria, is also filing suit against Boskovich
Farms, according to his attorney, Drew Falkenstein.
