New Mexico Finds Smoking Gun in Spinach-E. coli Outbreak
New Mexico's public health laboratory has isolated E. coli O157:H7 from an opened package of spinach. The package came from the refrigerator of a patient who ate some of the spinach before becoming ill. The New Mexico laboratory completed "DNA fingerprinting" tests last night. New Mexico and CDC determined that the "DNA fingerprint" matches that of the strain of E. coli O157:H7 that has sickened at least 146 people in 23 states and killed a Wisconsin woman.
This genetic match provides solid evidence that fresh, bagged spinach is the source of the nationwide E. coli O157:H7 that has sickened at least 146 people in 23 states. Each day the number of confirmed cases in the outbreak grows. If you have questions about the legal ramifications of genetic fingerprinting for those with E. coli O157:H7 bacterial infections, contact attorney Fred Pritzker toll-free at 1-888-377-8900, fhp@pritzkerlaw.com or with the online attorney-consultation form.
Below is a press release issued by the New Mexico Department of Health dated September 20, 2006:
(Santa Fe) - The New Mexico Department of Health announced today that it has linked the first spinach sample in the nation with the outbreak strain of E. coli 0157. The Scientific Laboratory Division isolated the nationwide outbreak strain from a package of spinach that one of New Mexico's patients ate before becoming sick.
The Biological Sciences Bureau of the Scientific Lab completed "DNA fingerprinting" tests and determined that the strain from the spinach matches the strain from the patients in the national outbreak. To date in New Mexico, there have been five cases linked to the outbreak: two adult women, one young adult female and two male children, all from Bernalillo County."The lab's finding will move the federal investigation one step forward by showing that the bacteria that made these people sick was also found in the spinach," said David Mills, the department's Scientific Lab Division director. "It is another piece to the puzzle that associates the disease causing organism with the spinach."
"I would like to praise the New Mexico Department of Health's epidemiologists and the Scientific Lab for acting quickly on this vital issue," said Governor Richardson. "This solid scientific work will help move the investigation forward to protect New Mexicans and people across the country."
. . . Persons who develop diarrhea after consuming fresh spinach or salad blends containing fresh spinach should visit their health care provider and ask that their stool specimen be tested for E. coli O157. . . .