I hope that everyone will redouble their efforts to ensure that food is washed, prepared, and stored safely, both in commercial environments and in the home. Most of the ill persons have recovered at this time. When initial tests on ill persons came back negative, the Washington State Public Health Laboratory performed special tests for less common pathogens and identified the culprit.
Additional tests are ongoing in an attempt to conclusively identify the source of contamination.
The most likely source of the infection was a contaminated uncooked food item. ETEC is killed by cooking. ETEC may cause more disease that is currently thought. Health care providers should have a high index of suspicion for less commonly recognized causes of diarrhea such as ETEC when symptoms are unusual or persist longer than expected. In these cases, contacting Public Health can help identify the cause of illness.