She says the investigation by the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food is complicated because the salad with rotisserie chicken is put together in-store with ingredients from a variety of sources.
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People who bought rotisserie chicken salad from Costco before November 20 should throw it away, the CDC said.
If you bought a package of rotisserie chicken salad from Costco last Friday (Nov. 20) or earlier, you might want to throw it out. The outbreak is concentrated in the western USA, with six cases reported in Montana; five in Utah; four in Colorado; and one case each in California, Missouri, Virginia and Washington state.
The bacteria are associated with animal waste but aren’t just associated with meat, as E. coli can also be spread in indirect ways on produce.
14 (88%) of 16 people purchased or ate rotisserie chicken salad from Costco in the week before illness started. Those sickened range in age between 5 and 84 and 57 percent are female.
Five people have been hospitalized. Illnesses that occurred after November 10 might not be reported yet because of a lag in confirmation and reporting.
People who have eaten it and feel ill should talk to a health care provider.
CDC and state and local public health partners are continuing laboratory surveillance through PulseNet to identify additional ill persons and to interview them. This takes an average of 2 to 3 weeks.
The announcement comes after Chipotle stores in the Northwest closed following confirmed E. coli cases linked to the burrito chain.
The product has an item number of 37719.
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Symptoms for those infected with the strain O157:H7 include bloody diarrhea, abdominal cramps, fever and vomiting.
