E. coli Blog - Surveillance & analysis on e. coli news & outbreaks

The Lanhontan Valley News reported that two children who suffered E. coli infections and hemolytic uremic syndrome in 2006 were able to celebrate Thanksgiving at home with their families.

Lanie Smith, 5, and John 'Jack' Cessford IV, 2 and a half, both of Fallon, were both hospitalized earlier this year after contracting the bacteria. Smith spent seven weeks in the intensive care unit at the Children's Hospital in Oakland for treatment. Cessford was hospitalized in the Renown Health Medical Center intensive care unit for nine days in May.

The Lexington Herald-Leader addressed the serious complication of E. coli infection called hemolytic uremic syndrome.

About 5 percent of youngsters who get HUS do not survive. The key to treatment is early diagnosis, says UK's Dr. Philip Bernard. The first sign of trouble is bloody diarrhea, and Bernard said parents should take children with symptoms to the doctor immediately.

Children, the elderly, and those with weakened immune systems are most susceptible to E. coli O157:H7 and HUS.
 

Robert E. Brackett, Ph.D., recently participated in a panel before the US Senate committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. Brackett, who is the director of the FDA's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, pointed out that ready-to-eat fresh vegetables, fruits, and prepared salads have a high potential risk of contamination because they are generally grown in a natural environment and are often consumed without cooking or other treatments that could eliminate pathogens if they are present.

He went on to explain FDA's role in food safety, discuss FDA’s response to the recent E. coli outbreak and the ongoing investigation, describe some of the specific efforts that FDA is taking to enhance the safety of fresh produce to prevent future outbreaks, and reviewed some of the next steps that FDA plans to take to work with food safety partners to improve the safety of ready-to-eat foods.

Among the steps Brackett outlined were:

• The development of a plan to minimize the risk of another outbreak in all leafy greens, including lettuce.
• An examination of whether improvements in the following four areas could help prevent or contain future outbreaks: 1) strategies to prevent contamination; 2) ways to minimize the health impact after an occurrence; 3) ways to improve communication; and 4) specific research.
• Putting on a series of meetings with industry groups to discuss ways to improve the safety of fresh produce.
• Consideration of whether additional guidance and/or additional regulations for the produce industry are necessary.
• Increasing research on analytical technologies that enable faster detection of foodborne pathogens and better intervention strategies.
• Studying possible intervention strategies, such as use of thermal treatment and irradiation, which could be applied to fresh produce products to reduce the level of bacteria and viruses that are in or on the product.
• Working with universities, industry, and state governments to develop both risk-based microbiological research programs and technology transfer programs to ensure that the latest food technology reaches the appropriate end users along the supply chain.

The Daily Tarheel reports that health officials have not yet been able to pinpoint the source of contamination within the restaurant that led to at least 9 cases of confirmed E. coli O157:H7 among McAlister's patrons.

Neil Newcomb, owner of the Franklin Street McAlister's, said that he noticed a decline in business after last week's revelations, but that customers are returning. "We need to be the perfectly run restaurant. If we were not, we are now," he said. "We anticipate bouncing back."

Senator Durbin submitted a statement for the hearing held yesterday by the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. The hearing was titled, "Food Safety: Current Challenges and New Ideas to Safeguard Consumers".

In the statement, Senator Durbin addressed that dated methods used to oversee modern food distribution systems. He also suggested changes that should be made to increase food safety protocols, including:

• Giving federal agencies the ability to issue mandatory recalls
• Implementation of a regular inspection program for domestic food facilities
• Requirements for food producers to code products for ease in tracking origins
• Creation of a single food safety agency
   

Marler Clark client Chenelle Reyes was interviewed by KIRO 7 news in Seattle. Ms. Reyes and Bill Marler both discussed the E. coli outbreak traced to spinach with Graham Johnson:

"I literally felt I was dying," Reyes said. "I was in a lot of pain."

Federal investigators confirm the outbreak killed three people and made 204 sick. Investigators have traced the source of the outbreak to cow manure on a ranch near Natural Selection foods. They think wild pigs might have carried E. coli to the spinach fields.
 

A University of Illinois food scientist has discovered that certain solutions used by meat processors to extend shelf life actually do double duty as antimicrobial agents, killing such virulent foodborne pathogens as E. coli 0157:H7.

That’s important because E. coli can be spread via recycled solutions used to tenderize and enhance flavor in steaks, chops, and other cuts of meat, said U of I food science professor Susan Brewer.

The problem motivated Brewer and her graduate students to study the process used to inject meat with enhancement solutions before they’re offered to consumers. And the results, published in the Journal of Food Science and Meat Science, have interested industry representatives.

“With needle injection, organisms that exist on the outside of a piece of meat can get poked down into the meat where they’re less likely to be killed if consumers like their meat on the rare side,” said Brewer. Also, as the needles inject one piece of meat after another, they can spread contamination from one piece of meat to another, and recycled enhancement solution can further complicate the spread of pathogens.

The scientists found that some solutions used to extend the shelf-life of meat also were effective at killing bacteria. Brewer says the threat level for such meat cuts as chops, steaks, and roasts is not high, although ground meat not cooked to high temperatures can be dangerous. “You’re always safe cooking red meat to 160 degrees,” she says.
 

When someone gets sick from E. coli-related illnesses, most people across the country call upon Seattle attorney Bill Marler - sometimes even before they call the health department.

The Food Safety Network recently issued an Infosheet regarding Marler’s work in food poisoning litigation. At a speech at Kansas State University on November 14th, he will be addressing food safety risks, how to avoid lawsuits, and food preparation safety.

The Daily Tarheel reports that the Orange County Health Department is focusing its E. coli outbreak investigation on McAlister's Deli, a restaurant on Franklin Street in Raleigh.

Officials at the health department stated in a press release that six out of the seven confirmed cases had McAlister's as a common link. Those six individuals ate at McAlister's between October 24th and October 28th.

The OCHD press release stated that the health department has confirmed seven cases of E. coli O157:H7 infection, and is investigating the possibility of additional cases, with three ill individuals' lab results pending. 
 

The Daily Evergreen, Washington State University's daily newspaper, interviewed John Reganold, a WSU regents professor of crop and soil sciences, and Richard Finch, the compost manager at the WSU Compost Facility, regarding their opinions on the safety of composted manure:

“If people are using properly composted materials, they should be completely safe in organic farm applications or growing food crops,” said Richard Finch, the compost manager at the WSU Compost Facility.

At the WSU Compost Facility, manure is placed in long, symmetric rows where it begins a 10-week process of transforming into compost. The manure is mixed with straw and wood to increase the amount of oxygen mixing with the manure. In a week, the manure rises to a temperature of 130 degrees. Eventually, the manure will rise to as high as 170 degrees.

Department of Ecology regulations state the manure must remain between 130 and 170 degrees for a minimum of 15 days. The warm temperatures eliminate potential bacteria such as E. coli. To avoid runoff from unfavorable weather conditions, the compost rows are never more than 10 feet tall, Finch said. The rain and excess compost is also funneled into a pond to prevent it from contaminating irrigation water.
 

Frank Pecarich, a retired soil scientist, points out that more could have been done before the E. coli outbreak traced to spinach, had scientists been listened to when they pointed out problems with the agricultural systems in the Salinas Valley.

"At first, our analysis clearly spied the flaws in the agriculture infrastructure and system of growing our fresh vegetable food supply,” he posted on the California Progress Report blog. “I have written three articles at this web site on all the gory details of why irrigating fresh leafy green vegetables with treated sewage effluent intended to be consumed raw was a horrible idea. We have also pointed out that the scientific literature is clear on the inability of tertiary treatment of sewage water to completely eradicate E. coli 0157:H7.”

He continues, “As we look deeper to see how this classic example of a bad idea got worse, we find that there are many groups of people who have their ‘finger prints on the bloody knife’, so to speak."
 

The Winston-Salem Journal reports that at least three people have become ill from E. coli O157:H7 infections after attending the North Carolina State Fair.

A 2004 outbreak at the fair was traced to a petting zoo; however, the suspected source of this latest outbreak is a food stand.

Two adults and a teenager got sick after eating chicken pita sandwiches from a food vendor, which wasn't identified, near Dorton Arena. Two of them have been hospitalized.
 

A lawsuit has been filed by Seattle lawfirm Marler Clark on behalf of the family of Ruby Trautz, an elderly woman who died after eating E. coli-contaminated spinach.

The estate is suing Dole Food Co. of Westlake Village, Calif.; Natural Selections Foods of San Juan Bautista, Calif.; No Frills Supermarkets of Omaha; and the undisclosed California farm where the spinach was grown, according to the Bellevue News-Leader.

According to the lawsuit, Trautz ate Dole brand baby spinach, which Nebraska public health officials linked to a national E. coli outbreak that sickened 204 people and caused three deaths. Natural Selections Foods bagged the spinach.

Bill Marler, the attorney representing the Costello family and 93 other people who were sickened as part of the outbreak, posted about today's announcement that one of four farms who supplied Natural Selections Foods and Earthbound Farms with spinach had been identified on his blog.