Salad bar outbreak at Cheshire Medical has ended, hospital says

The hospital cafeteria offered the affected lettuce from the beginning of June to July 20, according to state officials.

Dartmouth Health said Wednesday that the cyclosporiasis cluster tied to lettuce served at Cheshire Medical Center earlier this summer has come to an end. The Keene hospital has gone two consecutive weeks without adding any new cases, and its total remains 34, including 21 employees. Of those, 28 were connected to Taylor Farms lettuce from the hospital salad bar.

State health officials reported 94 confirmed cases in New Hampshire as of Tuesday, up from 89 the previous week. About half of those, or 43 cases, were tied to a recalled product, with all but four traced to Taylor Farms lettuce served at Cheshire Medical Center’s cafeteria. Cheshire Medical’s count is based on testing done in the hospital’s own lab, while the state total includes all confirmed cases linked to the contaminated lettuce served there.

The hospital cafeteria offered the affected lettuce from the beginning of June to July 20, according to state officials. The product was later recalled and is no longer being served.

The illness, cyclosporiasis, is caused by a parasite and can lead to prolonged watery diarrhea. The CDC says cases usually rise in warmer months, but this summer’s national outbreak has been much larger than normal, with more than 30,000 people sickened since May 1. Cheshire Medical was the only New Hampshire site linked to the outbreak in state data.