The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention revealed on Tuesday that at least 19 people in seven states are believed to have been infected by E. coli after eating rotisserie chicken salad sold at Costco Wholesale Corp's stores.
No deaths have been reported, but five people have been hospitalized and two have developed a type of kidney failure, the CDC said in a press release.
"The epidemiologic evidence available at this time suggests that rotisserie chicken salad made and sold in Costco Wholesale stores in several states is a likely source of this outbreak," the CDC said.
The infections thus far have been reported in Montana, Utah, Colorado, California, Missouri, Virginia and Washington, according to CNN.
The CDC is still unaware of the specific ingredient that is linked to the infection, only knowing that 14 of those infected bought or ate rotisserie chicken salad from Costco in late October to early November.
Costco VP of Food Safety Craig Wilson stated that the chain stopped selling the chicken on Nov. 20, the same day it was notified by federal health officials that it was linked to cases of E.coli.
This isn't the first time Costco has found itself in the middle of a food contamination scandal, reported Reuters. Last year Costco was linked to a salmonella outbreak caused by chicken products it sold in at least nine states. The contaminated chicken was supplied to Costco by California-based Foster Poultry Farms.
The outbreak also comes days after health officials linked Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. to more than 40 cases of E. coli food poisoning across six states.
Containers containing the contaminated chicken bear the item number if 37719, if anyone finds that they are in possession of chicken that meets the criteria, they are urged to throw the container away immediately.
