At least 24 people have fallen ill from E. coli poisoning in 15 states around the U.S. due to contaminated frozen foods, according to CDC.gov .
"A total of 24 individuals infected with the outbreak strain of STEC O121 have been reported from 15 states, the CDC said. "The number of ill persons identified in each state is as follows: Alabama (1), Arkansas (1), Illinois (1), Indiana (2), Michigan (2), Mississippi (1), New York (3), Ohio (3), Pennsylvania (1), South Dakota (1), Texas (3), Utah (1), Virginia (1), Washington (1), and Wisconsin (2)."
The food responsible for the recent breakout is the company Farm Rich, who manufacture frozen food items such as pizzas, quesadillas, philly cheese steaks and mozzarella bites. The CDC is still investigating to see if any other foods have been infected with the disease.
According to CDC.gov, Farm Rich has already begun recalling products as of Thursday.
"On March 28, 2013, Rich Products Corporation recalled approximately 196,222 pounds of Farm Rich brand frozen chicken quesadillas and several other frozen mini meals and snack items."
The U.S. Department of Agriculture Food Safety and Inspection Service (USDA/FSIS) posted a distribution list of where the contaminated products have been sent to.
The list said Wal-Mart's nationwide have been shipped the infected products, along with Winn-Dixie stores in South Florida .
"The New York State Department of Health, Wadsworth Center Laboratory, identified the outbreak strain of E. coli O121 in an opened package of Farm Rich brand frozen mini chicken and cheese quesadillas from an ill person's home."
The disease has already hospitalized seven people and should not be taken lightly.
"The type of bacteria responsible for this outbreak is among those referred to as Shiga toxin-producing E. coli or STEC. Some types of STEC frequently cause severe disease, including bloody diarrhea and hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), which is a type of kidney failure," says the CDC.
The process may take several more days, as a series of tests must be run, according to the same source.
"STEC bacteria are divided into serogroups (e.g., O157 or O121). E. coli O157 is the STEC serogroup found most commonly in U.S. patients. Other E. coli serogroups in the STEC group, including O121, are sometimes called "non-O157 STECs." Because clinical laboratories typically cannot directly identify non-O157 STEC serogroups, they must first test stool samples for the presence of Shiga toxins. Then, the positive samples must be sent to public health laboratories to look for non-O157 STEC. In recent years, the number of clinical laboratories that test for Shiga toxin has increased greatly, but some laboratories still do not perform these tests. Because of these complexities, many non-O157 STEC infections are probably not identified. The STEC O121 PFGE pattern in this outbreak is rare."
