States with Cases of E. coli O157:H7 Infections with the Outbreak Strain

State departments of health and agriculture in several states, collaborating local health jurisdictions, CDC, and the United States Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (USDA-FSIS) are investigating a multi-state outbreak of Escherichia coli O157:H7 infections. As of July 17, 2008, 49 confirmed cases have been linked both epidemiologically and by molecular fingerprinting to this outbreak. The number of cases in each state is as follows: Georgia (4), Indiana (1), Kentucky (1), Michigan (20), New York (1), Ohio (21), and Utah (1). Their illnesses began between May 27 and July 1, 2008. Twenty-seven persons have been hospitalized. One patient developed a type of kidney failure called hemolytic-uremic syndrome (HUS). No deaths have been reported. Twenty-eight (57%) patients are female. The ages of patients range from 4 to 78 years; 47% are between 10 and 24 years old (only 21% of the U.S. population is in this age group).