Costco Chicken Salad E. Coli Outbreak Found In 7 States So Far

When last we discussed the recently announced outbreak of E. Coli illnesses tied to chicken salad sold at Costco, the sick customers had been limited to four states — Washington, Colorado, Utah, and Montana. Last night, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention revealed that the outbreak is more widespread, sickening Costco customers on both coasts.

As of Monday, the CDC had confirmed 19 infections in seven states — add California, Missouri, and Virginia to the above list — from this particular strain of the bacteria. Montana, Utah, and Colorado currently account for 15 of the confirmed cases.

So far, five people have been hospitalized to treat their infections. Two of those have experienced kidney failure as a result of the E. coli contamination. The first known illness for this outbreak began on Oct. 6. The sickness has affected people from ages 5 to 84 (median:18). As of now, the CDC knows of no fatalities.

Researchers have yet to identify which ingredient in the chicken salad is responsible for the outbreak. Costco has pulled all remaining rotisserie chicken salad from all of its U.S. stores. In case the source of the E. coli is in the production process, the company has halted production of the chicken salad until further notice.

The CDC is advising anyone who bought the chicken salad at Costco on or before Nov. 20, 2015, should not eat it and should throw it away — even if you’ve already eaten some and not yet gotten ill. The CDC says that it can take upwards of four days for someone to develop symptoms, like (probably bloody) diarrhea and abdominal cramps.