Source of the deadly outbreak of the E. coli bacteria is yet to be officially announced by U.S. health officials, in Canada the public health agency has connected it to romaine lettuce and advised its population to avoid consuming it.
In the U.S. there are ongoing investigations in over 13 states with the outbreak started in mid-November and cases continued through Dec. 8. One of the deaths from the outbreak was in California. The difficulty to eliminate the bacteria from
leafy greens increase because the produce is often consumer row and it tends to have little nooks and crannies where it’s hard to wash. The contamination can occur in the soil or water and happen on the farm itself or in processing plants.
The bacteria found on both sides of the border appear to be really closely related to one another.