US healthcare officials recently said a food-poisoning outbreak tied to alfalfa sprouts and involving multiple germs had sickened people in at least 15 states.
Officials announced the outbreak after documenting more than three dozen cases in Minnesota and Wisconsin. On Friday, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said the agency was aware of at least 55 cases nationally, including four people who had been hospitalized.
The CDC said cases were also reported in Florida, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, New Hampshire, New York, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, South Carolina, North Dakota, South Dakota and Washington.
Of 34 sick people interviewed, 26 reported eating alfalfa sprouts, according to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Food poisoning outbreaks tend to be defined by one type of germ, but this outbreak involves people with salmonella and different strains of E coli.