A Gunnison County resident’s illness is linked to a nationwide outbreak of E. coli infection that has sickened more than 100 people and prompted spinach to be pulled from store shelves across the country.
State health department tests have confirmed that the strain of E. coli that made the Gunnison County resident sick bears the same “fingerprint” as the bacterial culprit responsible for at least 114 illnesses and one death in 21 other states, health department spokesman Mark Salley said today.
A second sample, from a Denver resident, was not the same strain of E.coli, according to Dr. Jim Beebe, program manager for microbiology at the state lab.
Colorado health officials are awaiting the results of tests on three other samples, to determine if those are related to the outbreak as well. Those results could come Wednesday or Thursday.
The Gunnison victim’s name will not be released because of privacy, according to Salley.
“As would be expected in a widespread outbreak that has already affected neighboring states, Colorado now has a case of disease confirmed to be part of the multi-state E. coli outbreak,” said Dr. Ned Calonge, the department’s chief medical officer, in a statement.
The department is advising people to avoid fresh spinach and foods that contain spinach until further notice.
University of Colorado Health Center officials reported two suspected cases over the weekend.
The Wardenburg Health Center’s health director said a CU graduate student in his early 20s came to the center last week saying he’d eaten spinach three days earlier.
They were also awaiting test results for a second student.
CU removed spinach from dining halls and dining facilities, as recommended by federal health officials.
The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has started an Atlanta-based emergency operations center to help state health agencies test spinach samples and stool samples of those who have been infected, spokeswoman Lola Russell said Sunday.
Of the other states affected, Wisconsin has reported the highest number of cases, including the death of
a 77-year-old woman. A death in Ohio was being investigated.
Besides Wisconsin and Ohio, the other states in the outbreak are
California, Connecticut, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine,
Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Mexico, Nevada, New York, Oregon,
Pennsylvania, Utah, Virginia, Washington and Wyoming, according to the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
