The outbreak is over and romaine lettuce is no longer on the warning list

our more people have died of E. coli infections spread by romaine lettuce and 25 more illnesses have been reported, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday. The outbreak is over and romaine lettuce is no longer on the warning list, but reports of cases in three more states have come in, the CDC said. A total of five people have died and 197 got sick in the outbreak, the largest E. coli outbreak in the U.S. in more than a decade, the CDC said. It can take a while for case reports to make their way to the federal level from state and local officials, and people often do not die right away from complicated E. coli infections. “Most of the newly reported cases are people who became sick two to three weeks ago, still within the window when contaminated romaine was available for sale,” the CDC said. “Some people who became sick did not report eating romaine lettuce, but had close contact with someone else who got sick from eating romaine lettuce.” Most E. coli bacteria are harmless, but one strain, called E. coli O157:H7, can cause severe disease.