Minnesota Department of Health investigating Longville area E. coli outbreak
09.aug.06
The Pilot-Independent (Walker, Minnesota) Gail DeBoer
The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) has confirmed that it is investigating a foodborne illness outbreak in the Longville area.
Media spokesperson Doug Schultz said Monday afternoon that 15 cases have been reported to MDH of individuals who have had symptoms of E. coli infection.
Of those, four people tested positive for the E. coli strain O157:H7. As of Friday, at least two people were hospitalized in what Schultz termed "relatively serious condition."
According to Schultz, MDH has determined that most, but not all of the cases have an association with a July 19 potluck at Salem Lutheran Church in Longville.
However, he noted that at least three individuals did not attend the potluck.
"We are still investigating a number of other events and are looking at other possibilities," he stated.
"It may be that we won't be able to determine a single source. We just want to make sure there isn't a source out there that would pose an ongoing public health risk."
E. coli and the O157:H7 strain
E. coli bacteria live in the intestines of humans and animals, and most are harmless. There are as many as 100 different strains, including some found in lake water and soil.
However, the O157:H7 strain produces a powerful toxin that results in severe illness in humans. People ingest E. coli on contaminated foodstuff, through hand-to-mouth contact, or from contaminated water.
Such E. coli infections usually produce severe bloody diarrhea and abdominal cramps but are resolved in five to 10 days without treatment.
In about 2 to 7 percent of cases, the pathogens cause a severe complication called hemolytic-uremic syndrome, in which red blood cells are destroyed and kidneys fail.
How to contact MDH
Schultz asks that anyone from the Longville area who has experienced bloody diarrhea since July 10 call MDH at (877) 676-5414.
Anyone in the community who is experiencing those symptoms also should not prepare food for others, swim in a pool, or do anything that could spread the infection, he cautioned.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, raw and undercooked meat often are carriers of E. coli. Other possibilities include lettuce, including prepackaged salad greens, alfalfa sprouts, and unpasteurized juice, cider or milk.
Schultz said that in the Longville outbreak, it is assumed those who became ill contracted the bacteria from the primary food source, not person-to-person transmission.
"We may not ever know exactly what they ate, but using statistics, we can figure out the most likely culprit, " he predicted.
Salem responds
Monday afternoon, Pastor John Monson of Salem Lutheran Church said MDH was still conducting interviews to determine common links for the outbreak.
MDH had been unable to reach one family that might have a key bit of information, but Monson said he hoped to put MDH in contact with them.
Monson also stressed that some cases involve non-church members and people who did not attend the July 19 smorgasbord. Some reports were as early as July 8, suggesting "this may be a fairly-widespread community-sourced illness."
"Our congregation is concerned about the health of our community and is doing whatever possible to assist the MDH in their research," Monson stressed. "Since the MDH inquiry is ongoing, we can only wait for their conclusions and hope that their discoveries may help prevent future outbreaks.
Just to be on the safe side, Salem Lutheran Church decided to cancel its August smorgasbord, had its water supply checked and its food service area double-checked.
Reporting process
Reports of an outbreak of foodborne illness come to MDH in a number of ways. Typically someone who is ill calls MDH's foodborne illness hotline.
"If we get a number of different calls, we start to look at them," Schultz said.
Doctors who suspect an E. coli outbreak also are required to report to MDH. When doctors send in specimens and MDH gets a positive report at its lab, it begins investigating the incident.
Schultz said he did not know how cases were reported here, "but through those tracking mechanisms, it's not too difficult to spot a cluster." He said that, to his knowledge, this was the first E. coli outbreak in the state this summer.
Countermeasures
Some of the countermeasures to guard against E. coli include cooking all meat above 160 degrees to kill the bacteria; washing fruits and vegetables; drinking only pasteurized milk, juice or cider; washing and disinfecting all cooking utensils, counters and other food preparation surfaces; not swallowing lake or pool water; and diligent hand-washing.
