Sickness Across The South
A multi-state E.coli outbreak has sickened 14 and killed one, the CDC reports.
At least six states have been affected by the outbreak. They are Louisiana, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, California and Tennessee.
The most common strain of E. coli is 0157:H7, but the outbreak has been traced to the shiga toxin-producing 0145. The earliest incident of the illness was discovered on April 15 and the most recent on June 4.
It's A Mystery
It's unclear what the source of the bacteria is, but officials are interviewing affected individuals to see what they ate in the days leading up to their sickness.
Shiga toxin-producing E.coli has an incubation period of two to eight days. Symptoms include watery and/or bloody diarrhea and stomach cramps. Usually they clear up on their own within a week, but some cases can result in Hemolytic uremic syndrome, which is a type of kidney failure.
This is more common in children under five and the elderly.
Preventative Measures
Since the CDC does not know where the bacteria is coming from, they cannot yet give specific guidelines on how to avoid infection.
However, common guidelines to avoid E. coli are washing hands thoroughly after using the restroom or petting animals, cooking meat to an internal temperature of 160 degrees, avoiding unpasteurized dairy products, and avoiding swallowing water while in swimming pools.