Though no source has been identified yet, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced yesterday that federal and state health officials are investigating an Escherichia coli O157:H7 outbreak that has sickened 17 people in 7 states.
The outbreak includes infections recently reported by the New Jersey Department of Health (NJDH). The CDC emphasized that so far no specific food item, grocery store, or restaurant chain has been identified as the source of the outbreak, and local public health officials are still interviewing sick people to see what they ate or were otherwise exposed to the week before their symptoms began.
Some media outlets in New Jersey have reported that Panera Bread restaurants are part of a regional investigation into an E coli outbreak and that other chain restaurants could be involved.
FoodWorld 