Costco Chicken Salad Linked to 7-State E. Coli Outbreak
Rotisserie chicken salad from Cotsco is linked with a recent outbreak of food poisoning. (Photo: Getty Images)
If you bought a package of rotisserie chicken salad from Costco last Friday (Nov. 20) or earlier, you might want to throw it out.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports an outbreak of Escherichia coli infection that seems to be linked with rotisserie chicken salad from Costco. Nineteen people have been sickened with Shiga toxin-producing E. coli O157:H7 infections, five of whom required hospitalization. Two of those hospitalized have developed a kind of kidney failure called hemolytic uremic syndrome.
The illnesses have occurred in seven states: California, Colorado, Missouri, Montana, Utah, Virginia, and Washington. Those who have fallen ill have ages ranging from 5 to 84, and the first reports of illness began Oct. 6.
The states where the E. coli infections were reported. (Infographic: Graphiq)
Health officials believe the outbreak is linked with the Costco product because out of 16 people interviewed by the CDC who have fallen ill, 14 of them had eaten or purchased the rotisserie chicken salad in the week before they got sick.
There is no information yet on what exactly it is in the chicken salad that could be the exact culprit. In the meantime, the CDC is urging people who purchased the product on Nov. 20 or earlier to throw it away. (The label says “Chicken Salad made with Rotisserie Chicken" and has item number 37719.)
Symptoms of E. coli infection usually begin three to four days after exposure, and include abdominal cramping, diarrhea, and sometimes even nausea and vomiting. Most healthy people will recover without need for medical intervention, but young children and the elderly are at particular risk for kidney failure, according to the Mayo Clinic.
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