After more than a month with no new illnesses reported, federal health officials announced on Tuesday that an E. coli outbreak linked to Costco chicken salad appears to be over.
The outbreak of the dangerous O157:H7 strain sickened at least 19 people in seven states, but the most recent was reported on Nov. 3.
Five of the cases required hospitalization and two developed kidney failure, but no deaths were reported.
The illnesses were traced to rotisserie chicken salad sold by Costco, but a common ingredient was not identified by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
A celery and onion mix supplied to Costco for the chicken salad tested positive for E. coli in Montana, and California-based Taylor Farms Pacific recalled a range of products that included its celery last month.
The recall affected Costco, Walmart, Target, Starbucks and other retailers.