An E. coli outbreak tied to raw milk cheese made in Northern California has spread across nine states, prompting hospitalizations among several young children.
Health officials have connected 13 infections to four varieties of raw milk cheese produced by Sierra Nevada Graziers in Willows, California. Three of the reported cases have occurred in California.
Children have been especially affected, with more than half of those infected age 5 or younger. The cases led the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to issue a recall for all four cheese varieties.
The FDA said the recalled products include Sierra Nevada Graziers grass-fed raw milk medium cheddar, sharp cheddar, jalapeno jack and Monterey jack. They were sold in 8-ounce and 16-ounce packages at retail, as well as in 5-pound loaves supplied to food-service businesses and wholesalers.
Eight people have required hospitalization, while three developed Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome, or HUS, a serious complication of E. coli infection that can cause kidney failure, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
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Consumers should check their refrigerators and freezers for the recalled cheese and discard any affected products. The FDA also recommends cleaning items and surfaces that may have come into contact with the cheese with hot, soapy water or in a dishwasher.
The latest outbreak follows another E. coli incident in March involving a California-based company, which sickened nine people in three states.
Seven of those infections were reported in California, and more than half involved children younger than 5. Raw Farm’s raw cheddar cheese was recalled after investigators linked it to the outbreak.
Sierra Nevada Cheese Co., founded in 1997 and based in Willows, California, produces cheese, butter, yogurt and cream cheese for customers nationwide.
Nevada has reported three cases connected to the current E. coli outbreak, while each of the other seven affected states has recorded one case so far.
