Georgia Confirms Multistate E. coli O145 Outbreak in Southern U.S.

Five sick in Georgia; 3 in Louisiana with 1 death; other states unknown

The E. coli O145 outbreak that killed a 21-month-old girl in New Orleans on May 31 and sickened at least two other adults is connected to at least five cases in Georgia, the Georgia Department of Public Health announced today.
Both the Georgia and Louisiana state health departments say they are working with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to investigate cases in a multistate E. coli O145 outbreak that's affecting the southern U.S. The CDC has not yet released a list of the other states involved with the outbreak or any other information related to the investigation.
So far, health officials do not know the source of the contamination. "At this time, we continue to interview new cases as we are notified of them," a Georgia health department spokeswoman told Food Safety News in an email. "We have detected no food items or environmental exposures that are statistically associated with illness at this time. This investigation is ongoing."
The five Georgia illnesses are spread across the following counties: Cobb (2 illnesses), Cherokee (1), Coweta (1) and Forsyth (1).
As of June 4, E. coli O145 is one of the 'Big Six' E. coli strains since this week considered an adulterant in food by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Source: Food Safety News