NC hospital used lettuce linked to E. coli outbreak before recall notice, officials say
An E. coli outbreak linked to romaine lettuce from California might have inadvertently affected a hospital in North Carolina, officials said Monday.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a warning on Friday concerning a multi-state E. coli outbreak stemming from romaine lettuce harvested in the Salinas, California, region.
Officials at AdventHealth Hendersonville — less than 15 miles south of Asheville — said the hospital received a shipment of romaine lettuce from the region the same day the CDC issued that alert.
Its vendor, US Foods, later reached out to ensure the bags had been pitched.
“Prior to receiving this notification, AdventHealth Hendersonville used two of the six bags in that shipment,” the hospital said in a news release. “It has discarded the remaining lettuce in question and is closely monitoring any lettuce shipments from all vendors for any that may fall into this food safety investigation.”
AdventHealth Hendersonville has 103 beds staffed by more than 250 physicians and providers, spokesperson Victoria Dunkle told McClatchy news group Friday. According to the hospital’s website, its cafeteria was open on the day in question from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Dunkle said the hospital had 40 patients in its care over the weekend, and none of them were served the lettuce during that time.
Still, officials said they wanted patients and the public to be informed lest any symptoms occur.
“If you believe you consumed romaine lettuce via our patient tray service or in our public cafeteria between the dates of 11/22/19 and 11/24/19 and are suffering from diarrhea that is accompanied by fever higher than 102˚F, blood in the stool, or severe vomiting, please seek medical attention,” officials said in the release.
Symptoms typically start within three or four days after ingesting contaminated food or drinks, according to the hospital. But some symptoms may not appear until up to 10 days after exposure.
Those symptoms include cramps, nausea, fatigue and diarrhea.
The E. coli outbreak started with a recall on Nov. 21 of roughly 75,000 pounds of ready-made salad products produced by Missa Bay LLC believed to contain the bacteria.
Some of those products were reportedly shipped to North and South Carolina, Virginia and Georgia, among other states.
On Friday, health officials with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration determined Salinas, California, was the likely source of the outbreak. At least 40 people in 16 states had reportedly been infected by then, with the earliest reports dating back to Sept. 24.
None of them as of yet were in North Carolina, according to a CDC map of cases by state.
This story was originally published November 25, 2019 at 6:51 PM with the headline "NC hospital used lettuce linked to E. coli outbreak before recall notice, officials say."
