FDA confirms 3 dead in US E coli outbreak

WASHINGTON, Oct 7 (Reuters) Three people have now been confirmed killed in an outbreak of E coli O157:H7 food poisoning in spinach that originated in California, the US Food and Drug Administration said.

They added the death of an elderly woman in Nebraska to the toll and said 199 people in total had been sickened in 26 states. The numbers included 31 cases of hemolytic uremic syndrome, or HUS, a serious kidney illness.

''Today, Nebraska reported the death of an elderly woman with an illness compatible with E coli O157 infection who consumed raw spinach; E coli O157 with the outbreak strain 'DNA fingerprint' was detected in the remaining spinach,'' the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a statement.

''Yesterday, Idaho confirmed that stool samples from a 2-year-old child with HUS who died on September 20 contained E coli O157 with a 'DNA fingerprint' pattern that matches the outbreak strain.'' The CDC said Maryland was still investigating a suspect case in an elderly woman who died there from an E coli infection but said DNA fingerprinting tracing of the precise source had not been possible.

''E coli O157 was isolated from 13 packages of spinach supplied by patients living in 10 states. Eleven of the packages had lot codes consistent with a single manufacturing facility on a particular day,'' the CDC said.

The FDA, CDC, US Department of Agriculture and the State of California are all still investigating the cause of the outbreak.

''This includes continued inspections and sample collection in facilities, the environment and water, as well as studies of animal management, water use, and the environment,'' the FDA said.

''On October 4, 2006, US Attorney Kevin V Ryan of the Northern District of California issued a statement on the execution of two search warrants on Growers Express in Salinas, California, and Natural Selection Foods in San Bautista, California, in connection with the outbreak.'' All the contaminated spinach has traced back to Natural Selection Foods LLC of San Juan Bautista, California.

''FDA and the State of California still expect the industry to develop a comprehensive plan which is designed to minimize the risk of another outbreak due to E coli O157:H7 in spinach grown in central California,'' the agency said.

REUTERS DKS RAI0652