As of October 12, 2006, FDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) had confirmed 205 E. coli illnesses associated with the outbreak, including thirty-one cases of hemolytic uremic syndrome, 104 hospitalizations, and four deaths. Victims of the E. coli outbreak were identified in 26 states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. Wisconsin was the state hardest-hit in the outbreak, with 49 confirmed cases. Canada reported one confirmed case.
A joint traceback by FDA and the State of California revealed that four spinach fields were the possible source of the E. coli contamination. The outbreak strain of E. coli O157:H7 was isolated from cattle fields near the implicated spinach fields, and from a wild boar that was killed in one of the fields. The investigation into how the outbreak originated is ongoing.
The E. coli lawyers at Marler Clark represented 93 victims of the E. coli outbreak, and filed lawsuits on behalf of individuals from Maryland, Michigan, Oregon, Nebraska, New York, Utah, and Wisconsin. In the spring of 2007 Marler Clark resolved cases on behalf of three families whose elderly family members died after eating Dole spinach. The remaining cases, including those of more than 30 people who developed hemolytic uremic syndrome, were resolved in 2008 and 2009.
PRESS RELEASES:
Dole sued by Oregon E. coli victim
Second lawsuit filed by victims of E. coli outbreak traced to spinach
Utah child sues California spinach producer and manufacturer over E. coli illness
E. coli attorney calls on spinach industry to pay victims' medical bills
Family of Nebraska spinach E. coli victim files suit
Wisconsin Woman Severely Sickened by E. coli in Spinach Forced to Sue
More about the Dole and Natural Selections E. coli outbreak can be found on the Marler Clark-sponsored site about E. coli.