--- title: 150 People Have Gotten E. Coli From Romaine Lettuce description: Almost 150 people have gotten an E. coli from romaine lettuce, the CDC announced. One person has died during the outbreak. canonical: https://time.com/5263454/romaine-lettuce-e-coli-death/ author: Jamie Ducharme article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-05-02T19:45:36.000Z article:modified_time: 2023-12-12T20:10:26.000Z article:section: Health og:title: Almost 150 People Have Now Gotten E. Coli From Romaine Lettuce og:description: 1 person has died during the outbreak og:url: https://time.com/5263454/romaine-lettuce-e-coli-death/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2bf8189e65b2dfa1/69892f61096a9440fe6a24e9/romaine-lettuce.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4792 og:image:height: 2696 og:image:alt: Lettuces at supermarket og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Almost 150 People Have Now Gotten E. Coli From Romaine Lettuce twitter:description: 1 person has died during the outbreak twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2bf8189e65b2dfa1/69892f61096a9440fe6a24e9/romaine-lettuce.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Almost 150 People Have Now Gotten E. Coli From Romaine Lettuce > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. 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Updated: Dec 12, 2023 8:10 PM UTCPublished: May 2, 2018 7:45 PM UTC A person in California has died from the [E. coli outbreak](http://time.com/money/5246792/romaine-lettuce-e-coli/) tied to romaine lettuce, [according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention](https://www.cdc.gov/ecoli/2018/o157h7-04-18/index.html) (CDC). This is the first death associated with the outbreak, which has now sickened 149 people from 29 states and sent at least 64 people to the hospital, [according to the CDC](https://www.cdc.gov/ecoli/2018/o157h7-04-18/index.html). The illnesses are specifically related to romaine grown in the Yuma, Ariz. region, the agency says. The California Department of Public Health was not immediately able to provide details about the deceased person, or the circumstances around their death. People exposed to E. coli bacteria typically develop gastrointestinal issues that clear within about a week. This outbreak, however, is resulting in [unusually high rates of hospitalization](http://time.com/5254800/cdc-romaine-lettuce-hospitalization-rate/) — roughly half of the sickened individuals have been hospitalized, as opposed to around 30% in typical E. coli outbreaks — and higher-than-average rates of complications, including a type of kidney failure called hemolytic uremic syndrome. The first reported death underscores the severity of the E. coli strain driving the outbreak. Until further notice, the CDC is advising consumers to [avoid romaine lettuce](http://time.com/5255982/what-to-eat-instead-of-romaine/) unless they can confirm it was not grown in the Yuma area. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5263454/romaine-lettuce-e-coli-death/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5263454/romaine-lettuce-e-coli-death/"},"headline":"Almost 150 People Have Now Gotten E. 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