The 2015 United States E. coli outbreak was an incident in the United States involving the spread of Escherichia coli O157:H7 through contaminated celery which was consumed in chicken salad at various large retailers.
Of these reported cases, five resulted in hospitalization, with two patients developing hemolytic-uremic syndrome, a type of kidney failure; no deaths occurred as a result of the outbreak.
[4] A total of 19 cases of E. coli linked to the outbreak were reported, throughout seven states: California, Colorado, Missouri, Montana, Utah, Virginia, and Washington.
Recalls of Costco rotisserie chicken salad, which was deemed the source of the outbreak, occurred throughout the entire United States, with Costco claiming to have removed all infected products by November 20, 2015.
[1] The epidemiologic evidence collected during the outbreak suggested that rotisserie chicken salad made and sold in Costco Wholesale stores in several states was the likely source of the outbreak.