ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - Alaska health and corrections officials say eight inmates at the Nome jail have been sickened by an E. coli infection.
Officials say cases at the Anvil Mountain Correctional Center appear to be linked to tainted romaine lettuce grown in Yuma, California, that has affected at least 53 people in 16 states.
None of the eight Alaska patients have been hospitalized and none have died.
Symptoms include stomach cramps, diarrhea and vomiting. More serious complications can occur including kidney failure and death.
No Alaska cases outside the jail have been identified.
State officials urged restaurants, retailers and consumers to ask suppliers about the source of their lettuce and to throw away head or chopped romaine from Yuma.
Nome corrections officials will sanitize areas where stricken prisoners live to control the outbreak.
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