E. coli outbreak linked to West Seattle PCC guacamole
SEATTLE - Public Health – Seattle & King County is investigating an E. coli outbreak connected to guacamole from West Seattle's PCC Community Markets,
Health officials said on Thursday, five people got sick between Feb. 14-28 and had symptoms of Shiga toxin-producing E. coli O157:H7, which is also known as STEC. Symptoms included diarrhea (often bloody), stomach cramping, nausea, and vomiting.
Three of the five had testing that matched by genetic fingerprinting, which means they got sick from the same source, the health department said.
One person was hospitalized.
There was one common source among the sickened people, which was a store-made guacamole purchased at PCC Community Markets – West Seattle Co-op on California Avenue Southwest on Feb. 10, 2024.
The health department said they think the guacamole is the most likely source of the illness, but they do not know for certain.
There were no reports of any employees getting sick or having reported symptoms.
It's unknown how the guacamole might have been contaminated but there wasn't any left to test.
Officials said the outbreak appears to be over, but the investigation remains ongoing.
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