The Madison County, Alabama, health department has traced an E. coli food poisoning outbreak that has sickened at least 17 people, including three who are hospitalized with HUS, to lettuce served at Little Rosie’s restaurant in Huntsville, Alabama.  Health authorities have not announced whether the lettuce was cross-contaminated by another food product served in the restaurant, or whether the lettuce entered the restaurant already contaminated. 

The Huntsville Times reported that a five-year-old child is hospitalized at Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital in Nashville, and that a 48-year-old woman is hospitalized in critical condition in Huntsville.  A 70-year-old woman is also hospitalized in Asheville, North Carolina.  Madison County health officials have set up a hotline for victims of the outbreak to call if they are experiencing symptoms of E. coli infection, or if they believe they became ill with food poisoning after eating at Little Rosie’s, according to an article from the Montgomery Advertiser.