WASHINGTON (June 23, 2009)—Seventy people in 30 states have been infected with a strain of E. coli O157:H7 and 41 of those cases have been linked to an outbreak associated with eating raw prepackaged cookie dough, including three in Texas.

Most of the patients reported eating refrigerated prepackaged Nestle Toll House cookie dough products raw, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Tuesday.

The E. coli O157:H7 strain hasn’t been associated previously with eating raw cookie dough, the CDC said.

The people infected with the strain range in age from 2 to 65, but two-thirds are less than 19-years-old, the CDC said.

On Friday, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the CDC warned consumers not to eat or use any variety of prepackaged Nestle Toll House refrigerated dough because of possible E. coli O157:H7 contamination.

The FDA says consumers who have the products should throw them away.

“Cooking the dough is not recommended because consumers might get the bacteria on their hands and on other cooking surfaces,” the FDA said.

The FDA advised retailers, restaurants and other food-service operators not to sell or serve the products that are included in Nestlé’s voluntary recall.

The FDA has received no reports of deaths associated with the products.

E. coli O157:H7 causes abdominal cramping, vomiting and a diarrheal illness, often with bloody stools, the FDA said.

Healthy adults generally recover within a week, but young children and the elderly are at greatest risk for developing Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome, which can cause serious kidney damage and even death, the FDA said.

Anyone who has the dough and has experienced the symptoms should contact a doctor immediately.

States With Confirmed Cases
(Source: CDC)

Arizona (2), California (3), Colorado (5), Connecticut (1), Delaware (1), Georgia (1), Hawaii (1), Iowa (2), Illinois (5), Kentucky (3), Massachusetts (4), Maryland (2), Maine (3), Minnesota (6), Missouri (2), Montana (1), North Carolina (2), New Hampshire (2), New Jersey (1), Nevada (2), Ohio (3), Oklahoma (1), Oregon (1), Pennsylvania (2), South Carolina (1), Texas (3), Utah (2), Virginia (2), Washington (5), and Wisconsin (1).

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