BY CORAL BEACH | MAY 2, 2018 State by state CDC map at end of story. One person has died in the E. coli outbreak linked to romaine lettuce. There are now 121 confirmed cases across 25 states. Investigators continue to look for the source of the implicated romaine, as well as how it became contaminated. In the past week, public health officials confirmed 23 new cases and added three more states to the outbreak map. A week ago the case count stood at 98 people, making for a 23 percent increase in the number of infected people in seven days, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Of those 102 victims for whom complete information is available, 52 have required hospitalization. California officials have reported one death in their state. The unusually high hospitalization rate of 51 percent shows the outbreak strain of E. coli O157: H7 is particularly dangerous. Also, 14 of the sick people have developed hemolytic uremic syndrome, a type of k