CDC Ends Sprout Outbreak After 77 Illnesses

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has declared an end to a dual outbreak of E. coli and Salmonella traced to alfalfa sprouts and the seeds used to grow them. The outbreak sickened at least 77 people in 16 states. Six people were hospitalized, and no one died. The Food and Drug Administration closed its own investigation on November 9.

The case count splits three ways. Sixty-four patients were infected with E. coli, 10 with Salmonella, and three with both at once. The E. coli side carried three strains, O26:H11, O103:H25 and O168:H8, and the Salmonella strain was Agona. Illnesses began on dates from May 31 to October 19. Of the 52 patients investigators interviewed, 41 said they'd eaten sprouts before they got sick.

Two companies anchor the trace. Everything Sprouts of Minneapolis, Minnesota, and Berlin Seeds of Millersburg, Ohio, both recalled products tied to the outbreak. A dual-pathogen outbreak is unusual on its own. Sprouts are a known risk food because the warm, wet conditions that germinate seed also grow bacteria, and the seed itself can carry contamination into every batch it starts.

One name is still missing. The FDA hasn't publicly identified the seed supplier behind the outbreak. The agency identified the seed by lot instead: alfalfa seed lot SAL2-24JB, with an expiration date of December 31, 2029. Its closing advice went to the growers. Sprout growers should check their inventory for that lot and discard any seed that remains, the agency said.

The official count is a floor, not a total. The CDC's own multipliers say that for every patient identified in a Salmonella outbreak, 29 go undetected, and for E. coli the multiplier is 26. Most people who get sick from sprouts never get tested, and many never see a doctor. The 77 confirmed illnesses sit on top of a much larger probable number that no agency will ever count.

The recalls haven't stopped with the outbreak notice. Two more sprout recalls landed in the FDA's enforcement report this week, and both carry the agency's Class I rating, its highest risk level. Country Creek Acres is recalling alfalfa sprout seeds sold online nationwide in 2-ounce to 16-ounce bags, and Francisco Family Foods of Kalispell, Montana, is recalling hydroponically grown alfalfa sprouts. Both cite possible E. coli or Salmonella contamination from a recalled seed supplier. The FDA hasn't confirmed whether the two recalls belong to the closed outbreak.

For shoppers, the practical read is narrow. The sprouts tied to the outbreak were sold months ago and are gone from shelves. The live risk sits in seed inventory, in a grower's storeroom or a home sprouting jar, under one lot number. Anyone who ate the implicated sprouts and develops severe stomach cramps or bloody diarrhea should seek medical care and name the exposure, because E. coli and Salmonella both need specific tests to diagnose.