June 2004

Today the Fargo AP reported authorities say they are checking on a Minnesota-based meat company doing business here under a new name.
Farmers Pride Inc., a door-to-door meat company based in Blaine, Minn., is being sued by the Minnesota attorney general over claims of deceptive sales practices, fraud and false advertising. The Minnesota Department of…

Yesterday the Union-Democrat reported that according to the Calaveras County Health Health Officer Dr. Dean Kelaita, six Calaveras County children diagnosed in recent weeks with E. coli have two different strains of the virus.
DNA testing by the state Department of Health Services shows that the first three children diagnosed in early May have the…

From Mary Kugler, About.com
Mainly from contaminated food
In March 2003 a lawsuit was filed against the Kettleman City, California, In-N-Out Burger. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of a girl who developed hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) after eating at the restaurant and is now at risk for developing kidney damage.
In April 2000, seven people died and more than 2,000 became ill after drinking contaminated water in Walkerton, Ontario, Canada. In July 2000, 40 people became ill after eating at a Milwaukee Sizzler restaurant; one child died.
HUS mainly from bacteria
The more common type of hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), as in the cases above, occurs after a person has been infected with bacteria, usually E. coli, from contaminated food or water. Basically, the bacteria poison the person. Another type of HUS can occur in response to other germs or certain medicines, and very rarely from no known reason.
HUS rare but widespread
Hemolytic uremic syndrome is a condition that results in the destruction of clotting cells (thrombocytopenia) and red blood cells (hemolytic anemia), and causes the kidneys to shut down (renal failure) due to damage in the small blood vessels in the kidneys. It usually affects young children between the ages of 1 and 10 years, but may also occur in adults. HUS affects 2-4 people per 100,000 and occurs all over the world.Continue Reading Hamburger Disease (Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome)

Today Wally Kennedy, a staff writer for the Globe, reported that when two cases of E. coli infection involving children emerged last month near Carthage, and a third case involving a St. Louis child who visited Jasper County occurred at roughly the same time, health officials immediately suspected a common link. That’s because E. coli…

Paul Aker of KING 5 News here in Seattle says now that we’re in for a long stretch of nice weather, there is a warning to think twice about barbecuing. Every year, dozens of cases of E. coli pop up. The contagious illness can cause diarrhea, vomiting, even death in rare cases.
From the article:…

In an article published June 17, Globe staff writer Wally Kennedy reported that city and county health officials believe an E. coli outbreak late last month and early this month that caused serious illnesses in at least six children, most of whom attended a Joplin day-care center, has ended.
From the article:

The outbreak

…

Yesterday the Union Democrat reported that lab results returned last week show there is no connection between two different groups of Calaveras County children diagnosed with E. coli last month.
The Health Department has not found the sources of infection that sickened six people, ranging in age from 8 months to 17 years old. However,…

The Union-Democrat reported today that for the second time in two years, children who were in the livestock barns at the Calaveras County Fair have tested positive for E. coli. For the second time in two years, children who were in the livestock barns at the Calaveras County Fair have tested positive for E. coli.…