Following the Trail of Infection

Dec. 12, 2006— -- The exact cause of the latest outbreak in a four-month saga of E. coli infections remains a mystery. The microbe, which has sickened more than 200 and killed at least three, forces Americans to continue to question the safety of their food.

But while health officials still work to determine who else may be at risk from E. coli, a letter issued to California farmers more than a year ago suggests the industry had ample warning of the bacterial menace.

Federal health officials issue a pointed warning letter to California farmers, urging them to improve produce safety. The letter highlights E. coli as a major concern:

"In view of continuing outbreaks associated with fresh and fresh-cut lettuce and other leafy greens, particularly from California, we are issuing this second letter to reiterate our concerns and to strongly encourage firms in your industry to review their current operations in light of the agency's guidance for minimizing microbial food-safety hazards in fresh fruits and vegetables, as well as other available information regarding the reduction or elimination of pathogens on fresh produce."

An elderly Nebraska woman dies from what is later determined to be an E. coli infection. The woman, who was in her 80s, ate spinach contaminated with the same strain of E. coli that would later be implicated in sickening hundreds of other people around the country. Her death would be confirmed as resulting from E. coli poisoning on October 6, 2006.

Another death, a Wisconsin woman, is the first to be linked to the tainted spinach.

Natural Selection Foods, the nation's largest grower of organic produce, voluntarily recalls fresh spinach products sold in the United States, Mexico and Canada after the U.S. government said they could be linked to a deadly and worsening E. coli outbreak.

The number of people sickened by an E. coli outbreak traced to tainted spinach rises to 109. Federal officials announce that more brands recall their products in hopes of stemming the infections.

The E. coli outbreak spreads to two more states. Meanwhile, investigators report finding contaminated spinach in the refrigerator of one victim.

By this time, the outbreak has sickened at least 146 people in 23 states, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Seventy-six have been hospitalized, some with kidney failure.

The outbreak also takes its third life. Two-year-old Kyle Allgood of Idaho dies, and two weeks later his death is confirmed as stemming from E. coli-tainted spinach.