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DeLauro Demands CDC Update the American People on Latest E. coli Outbreak

January 8, 2018

WASHINGTON, DC (January 8, 2018) Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (CT-03) today wrote a letter to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Brenda Fitzgerald, M.D., demanding that the public be immediately updated on the status of the current E. coli outbreak, which is responsible for 58 infections and 2 deaths in the United States and Canada.

"I continue to be deeply alarmed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) response to the recent multistate outbreak of E. coli. CDC confirmed the outbreak on December 28—almost a month and a half after the first infection," said DeLauro. "As with any food safety threat, foodborne illness represents a grave risk to the health and wellbeing of consumers across our nation, particularly children and the elderly."

"CDC's stunning lack of guidance to consumers regarding this outbreak is unconscionable," continued DeLauro. "When it comes to food safety, American consumers deserve more than this slow and insufficient response. Families from coast to coast have been affected by this most recent outbreak, and many more are now left wondering if the food they are eating is safe. It is vitally important that the CDC —the world's preeminent public health organization—completes a thorough investigation while also providing timely, public information."

A copy of the full letter can be found here.