The Bellingham company said Tuesday that routine sampling by the Washington State Agriculture Department showed contamination with E. coli. Jackie's Jersey says no known human illness has been associated with the product.
All Jackie's Jersey Raw Jersey Cow Milk with a "use by" date through March 4 has been recalled. The half-gallon containers are sold in retail grocery stores in Whatcom, Skagit, Snohomish and King counties.
On December 24, 2009, FSIS issued a notice about a recall of 248,000 pounds of beef products from National Steak and Poultry that “may be contaminated with E. coli O157:H7.” The recall was issued after FSIS determined there was an association between non-intact steaks (blade-tenderized prior to further processing) and illnesses in Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, South Dakota and Washington. The CDC has said that at least “some” of the illnesses appear to be associated with products subject to the FSIS recall. Rumor has it that a state (Minnesota, perhaps?) has ill people who ate hamburger, not blade-tenderized steaks.
The Outbreak linked (apparently, in part) to blade-tenderized steaks from National Steak and Poultry has sickened 21 people from 16 states. Most victims became ill between mid-October and late November 2009. They ranged in age from 14 to 87 years. There have been 9 reported hospitalizations and 1 case of hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS).
That begs the question, why the silence of the steaks? Where did the National Steak and Poultry get the steaks? Where did the Minnesota hamburger (or trim) come from? Rumors are that it is from a Colorado facility (JBS Swift, perhaps?) that has seen its share of E. coli O157:H7 problems in the past. So, again why the silence of the steaks?
Nestle USA's Baking Division announced last week that it will begin using heat-treated flour in the manufacture of its Nestle Toll House refrigerated cookie dough. On January 11, 2010 Nestle informed the FDA that two samples of Nestle Toll House refrigerated cookie dough manufactured at its Danville, Virginia facility did not pass this rigorous protocol, and had tested positive for E. coli O157:H7. Consistent with our quality assurance protocol, the finished product involved never left our factory or entered the supply chain, and none was shipped to customers.
Nearly seven months earlier,on June 18, 2009, the CDC announced that 65 persons infected with a strain of E. coli O157:H7 with a particular DNA fingerprint have been reported from 29 states. Of these, 23 have been confirmed by an advanced DNA test as having the outbreak strain; these confirmatory test results are pending on the others. The number of ill persons identified in each state is as follows: Arkansas (1), Arizona (2), California (2), Colorado (5), Delaware (1), Hawaii (1), Iowa (2), Illinois (5), Kentucky (1), Massachusetts (4), Maryland (2), Maine (3), Minnesota (5), Missouri (2), Montana (1), North Carolina (1), New Hampshire (2), New Jersey (1), Nevada (2), Ohio (4), Oklahoma (1), Oregon (1), Pennsylvania (2), South Carolina (1), Texas (3), Utah (2), Virginia (2), Washington (5), and Wisconsin (1).
Ill persons range in age from 2 to 57 years; however, more than 70% are less than 19 years old and none are over 60 years old; 75% are female. Twenty-five persons have been hospitalized, 7 developed hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS).
Recall Release CLASS I RECALL FSIS-RC-002-2010 HEALTH RISK: HIGH
Adams Farm Slaughterhouse, LLC., an Athol, Mass., establishment, is recalling approximately 2,574 pounds of beef products that may be contaminated with E. coli O157:H7, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced today.
This recall was initiated after the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (MDPH) confirmed a positive ground beef sample for E. coli O157:H7, which it collected during an epidemiological investigation. Working in conjunction with the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (MDPH), FSIS determined that there is an association between the ground beef products and an illness in the state of Massachusetts. FSIS is continuing to work with the MDPH on the investigation. Anyone with signs or symptoms of foodborne illness should consult a physician.
The following products are subject to recall:
• 1,025-pounds of "Beef Cuts and Ground" packed for Mazzarese.
• 697-pounds of "Beef Cuts and Ground" packed for Side Hill Farm.
• 852-pounds of "Beef Cuts and Ground" packed for Sweet Water Farm.
Each package bears a label with the establishment number "EST. 5497" inside the USDA mark of inspection as well as the packaging date of "11/11/2009." The beef products were distributed to private owners on three separate farms in the state of Massachusetts.
According to the CDC website, CDC is collaborating with public health officials in several states and the United States Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) to investigate a multistate outbreak of human infections due to Escherichia coli O157:H7 (E. coli O157:H7).
As of 5:00 PM EDT, Monday, January 4, 2010, 21 persons infected with the outbreak strain of E. coli O157:H7 had been reported from 16 states. The number of ill persons who were identified resides in each state as follows: CA (1), CO (1), FL (1), HI (1), IA (1), IN (1), KS (1), MI (1), MN (3), NV (1), OH (2), OK (1), SD (2), TN (1), UT (2), and WA (1).
Known illness onset dates range from October 3, 2009 through December 14, 2009. Most patients became ill between mid-October and late November. Patients range in age from 14 to 87 years and the median age of patients is 34 years, which means half are younger than 34 years. Forty-three percent of patients are females. There have been 9 reported hospitalizations, 1 case of hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), and no deaths.
Several state health departments, CDC, and the United States Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service (USDA-FSIS) are investigating a multi-state outbreak of Escherichia coli O157:H7 infections. On October 31, 2009, FSIS issued a notice about a recall of approximately 545,699 pounds of ground beef products from Fairbank Farms that may be contaminated with E. coli O157:H7. Health officials in several states who were investigating a cluster of E. coli O157:H7 illnesses, with isolates that match by “DNA fingerprinting” analyses, found that most ill persons had consumed ground beef, with several purchasing the same or similar product from a common retail chain. A number of the illnesses appear to be associated with products subject to these recalls. Two samples from opened packages of ground beef recovered from a patient's homes were tested by the Massachusetts and Connecticut Departments of Health and yielded an E. coli O157:H7 isolates that matched the patient isolates by DNA analysis.
The cluster includes 26 persons from 8 states infected with matching strains of E. coli O157:H7. The number of ill persons identified in each state is as follows: California (1), Connecticut (6), Massachusetts (8), Maryland (1), Maine (4), New Hampshire (4), New York (1), and Vermont (1). Of these, the genetic associations of 24 human isolates and both of the product isolates have been confirmed by an advanced secondary DNA test; secondary tests are pending on others. Depending on the results of continuing laboratory testing and ongoing case finding, the number of persons determined to be in this cluster may increase or decrease.
The first reported illness began on September 17, 2009, and the last began on November 6, 2009. Nineteen patients are reported to have been hospitalized and 5 developed a type of kidney failure called hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS). Two deaths have been reported. Fifty percent of patients are male and 38% are less than 18 years old (range 1 to 88 years).
Most of the beef packages in the recall bear the establishment number "Est. 492" inside the USDA mark of inspection and have identifying package dates of "091409", "091509" or "091609". Consumers are urged to check their refrigerators and freezers for beef products produced by this firm and purchased on or after September 15, 2009 and discard or return the recalled beef products to the place of purchase for a refund. Customers with questions about the source of a package of beef should contact the place where they purchased it (e.g., grocery store, club store, or meat market).
According to AP, Maine officials are reminding consumers to check their freezers for recalled ground beef after four people were hospitalized for E. coli poisoning.
Last month, Fairbank Farms of Ashville, N.Y., recalled almost 546,000 pounds of fresh ground beef that had been distributed in September to stores from North Carolina to Maine. Federal officials have said 28 people may have become ill, and two may have died, from the possible E. coli outbreak.
The ground beef was sold at Shaw's and BJ's stores in Maine.
Officials says four people in Maine were found to have a matching strain of E. coli. They were all hospitalized and one remains in the hospital.
Officials say two people had purchased the recalled ground beef.
Michael Moss breaks yet another concerning E. coli story - "E. Coli Outbreak Traced to Company That Halted Testing of Ground Beef." Apparently, Fairbank Farms purchased incoming trim to add to its hamburger and failed to test it for E. coli - Why?
A deadly outbreak of E. coli has been traced to a large producer of ground beef that stopped testing its ingredients years ago under pressure from beef suppliers.
AFA Foods has defended its testing protocols, saying they meet the beef industry’s “best practices” guidelines. Company officials said that their plants, including the one in New York, a subsidiary known as Fairbank Farms, require slaughterhouses to test their trim and that the company then tests samples of its finished ground beef as frequently as every 10 minutes.
“During the relevant production period, all such tests were negative,” Fairbank Farms said in written answers to questions from The Times.
However, the company added on Thursday that it was re-evaluating its testing procedures. “In addition to those controls, Fairbank is evaluating the addition of another firewall such as additional testing of incoming product,” the company said.
Well, better late than never.
California, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Vermont health departments, CDC, and the United States Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service (USDA-FSIS) are investigating a multi-state outbreak of Escherichia coli O157:H7 infections. On October 31, 2009, FSIS issued a notice about a recall of approximately 545,699 pounds of ground beef products from Fairbank Farms that may be contaminated with E. coli O157:H7. Health officials in several states who were investigating a cluster of E. coli O157:H7 illnesses, with isolates that match by “DNA fingerprinting” analyses, found that most ill persons had consumed ground beef, with several purchasing the same or similar product from a common retail chain. At least some of the illnesses appear to be associated with products subject to these recalls. A sample from an opened package of ground beef recovered from a patient's home was tested by the Massachusetts Department of Health and yielded an E. coli O157:H7 isolate that matched the patient isolates by DNA analysis.
The cluster includes 25 persons from 10 states infected with matching strains of E. coli O157:H7. The number of ill persons identified in each state is as follows: California (1), Connecticut (4), Massachusetts (8), Maryland (1), Maine (2), New Hampshire (4), New Jersey (1), New York (1), Pennsylvania (2), and Vermont (1). Of these, the genetic associations of 22 human isolates and the product isolate have been confirmed by an advanced secondary DNA test; secondary tests are pending on others. Depending on the results of continuing laboratory testing and ongoing case finding, the number of persons determined to be in this cluster may increase or decrease.
The first reported illness began on August 18, 2009, and the last began on October 10, 2009; however all but 2 patients reported becoming ill between September 17 and October 10, 2009. Sixteen patients have been reported to be hospitalized and 3 developed a type of kidney failure called hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS). Two deaths have been reported. Sixty-four percent of patients are male and 44% are less than 18 years old (range 1 to 84 years).
Most of the beef packages in the recall bear the establishment number "Est. 492" inside the USDA mark of inspection and have identifying package dates of "091409", "091509" or "091609". Consumers are urged to check their refrigerators and freezers for beef products produced by this firm and purchased on or after September 15, 2009 and discard or return the recalled beef products to the place of purchase for a refund. Customers with questions about the source of a package of beef should contact the place where they purchased it (e.g., grocery store, club store, or meat market).
New Hampshire with two ill and one death, joins Maine, Massachusetts (at least three ill), Connecticut, Maryland, North Carolina, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia and likely Rhode Island (at least twenty ill) in a growing E. coli O157:H7 outbreak linked to over 546,000 pounds of hamburger produced by Fairbank Farms of New York and distributed via retail outlets including Trader Joe's, Price Chopper, Lancaster, Wild Harvest, Shaw's, BJ's, Ford Brothers, and Giant.
With the recent recall of 1,039 pounds of hamburger contaminated with E. coli O157:H7 in Massachusetts, and the additional 546,000 pounds of hamburger recalled in New York, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced today, hamburger recalls since 2007 have now reached 41,958,504 pounds (from about 150,000 in 2006). And, this is not counting another recall from 2008. Then, Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Co., a Chino, California establishment, voluntarily recalled approximately 143,383,823 pounds of raw and frozen beef products that FSIS had determined to be unfit for human food because the cattle did not receive complete and proper inspection.
From a Company Press Release:
Fairbank Farms (USDA Establishment 492), a New York manufacturer of ground beef, has issued a voluntary recall for a specified line of fresh ground beef products sold in eight states. Approximately 545,699 pounds of fresh ground beef product produced between September 14 through September 16, 2009, may possibly be linked to E.coli O157:H7.
An important point of fact, the recalled products are very specifically defined and are past their expiration date by 23 to 32 days. This means they are no longer being sold as fresh product in supermarkets. The products were sold in the following states: Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Virginia.
To identify recalled products, consumers should check the package label and look for the product name, package weight and sell-by date. All labels will show an establishment number of EST 492 inside the USDA mark of inspection. Recalled products include:
ACME
Packaged products (Sell-by dates ranging from 09/19/09 through 09/28/09)
§ Wild Harvest Natural Angus Ground Beef 85/15, 1#
§ Lancaster Brand Extra Lean Ground Beef 96/04, 1#
§ Lancaster Brand Ground Beef 90/10, 1# & 2#
BJ’s Wholesale Club/Burris
Packaged products (Sell-by dates ranging from 09/19/09 through 09/28/09)
§ Fresh Ground Beef Patties 85/15, 5#
§ Lean Ground Beef 93/07, 3# & 5#
§ Meatloaf and Meatball Mix, 2.5#
Ford Brothers
Packaged products (Sell-by dates ranging from 09/19/09 to 09/28/09)
§ Fresh Ground Beef Patty 80/20, 3#
Giant Food Stores
Packaged products (Sell-by dates ranging from 09/19/09 to 09/28/09)
§ Giant Meatloaf & Meatball Mix, 1#
§ Giant Nature’s Promise Ground Beef, 1#
§ Giant Nature’s Promise Ground Beef Patties
§ Giant Extra Lean Ground Beef 96/04, 1#
Price Chopper
Packaged products (Sell-by dates ranging from 09/19/09 to 09/28/09)
§ Price Chopper Meatloaf & Meatball Mix, 1# & 2.5#
§ Price Chopper Extra Lean Ground Beef 96/4, 1#
§ Price Chopper Fresh Ground Beef Chuck for Chili 80/20, 1#
Shaw’s Supermarkets, Inc.
Packaged products (Sell-by dates ranging from 09/19/09 to 09/28/09)
§ Shaw’s Fresh Ground Beef 93/7, 1# and 2#
§ Shaw’s Fresh Ground Beef 80/20, 1#, 2#, 3#
§ Shaw’s Fresh Ground Beef 75/25, 1# and 3#
§ Shaw’s Fresh Ground Sirloin Beef Patties 90/10, 1.3#
§ Shaw’s Fresh Ground Round Beef Patties 85/15, 1.3#
§ Shaw’s Fresh Ground Beef Patties 80/20, 1.3#
§ Shaw’s Fresh Ground Beef Patties Family Pack 80/20, 3#
§ Shaw’s Angus Ground Beef 85/15, 1#
§ Shaw’s Fresh Ground Round Beef 85/15, 1#, 2#, 3#
§ Shaw’s Natural Ground Beef 90/10, 1#
§ Shaw’s Natural Ground Beef 85/15, 1#
§ Shaw’s Fresh Ground Sirloin 90/10, 1#, 2#, 3#
§ Meatloaf & Meatball Mix, 1#
Trader Joe’s
Brick packs (Sell-by dates 10/06/09 or10/07/09)
§ Trader Joe’s Butcher Shop Fine Quality Meats Ground Beef 85/15, 1#
§ Trader Joe’s Butcher Shop Fine Quality Meats Ground Beef 80/20, 1#
Packaged Products (Sell-by dates ranging from 09/19/09 to 09/28/09)
§ Trader Joe’s Butcher Shop Fine Quality Meats Beef Patty 85/15, 1#
§ Trader Joe’s Butcher Shop Fine Quality Meats Ground Beef 96/4 Extra Lean, 1#
Other products
§ Cases of 10-lb. Fairbank Farms fresh ground beef chubs (for store grind). These products had a sell date of 10/3/09, 10/4/09 or 10/5/09, but will likely not bear those sell-by dates on their package labels. These products were distributed to retail establishments in Maryland, Massachusetts, North Carolina, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Virginia for further processing. Consumers with concerns should contact their point of purchase.
Rich Harbert of Gate House News Service reported that Rhode Island health officials said 15 students from Lincoln Middle School suffered diarrhea after a trip to Camp Bournedale in Cedarville last week. Two of the students tested positive for E. coli bacterial contamination. Two students were hospitalized for treatment.
Rhode Island health officials said the sixth-grade students from Lincoln attended a three-day session at the camp from Oct. 13-16. Health officials were notified that several students had become sick on Monday, Oct. 19. The Rhode Island Department of Health reported that Massachusetts health officials are investigating foods at the camp as the likely source of the illness. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention is said to be assisting in the investigation.
Arnie Gerson, owner and director of the camp, said state and federal health officials traced the outbreak to tainted raw hamburger. Gerson said the camp will no longer cook raw hamburger. As a precaution, the camp will serve pre-cooked burgers to campers, if it serves hamburger at all.
The Rhode Island Department of Health (HEALTH) was notified Monday of several sixth grade students from Lincoln Middle School with diarrheal illness. The students just returned from Camp Bournedale in nearby Plymouth, MA which they attended from October 13th through 16th.
As of today (October 21), there have been 15 cases of diarrheal illness. There have been two students who tested positive for E. coli O157:H7. Two students are hospitalized. It is unclear if those two have developed Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome.
“We want to assure parents and students that we are not seeing this diarrheal illness spread person to person,” said Chief of HEALTH’s Center for Infectious Diseases Robert S. Crausman, MD, MMS. “However, any student or chaperone who was on the field trip and has diarrhea should call their doctor for medical evaluation and treatment. HEALTH is working closely with our colleagues at the Massachusetts Department of Public Health in the investigation of this incident.”
Students or chaperones who were on the field trip who do not have diarrhea do not need to take any special precautions. Massachusetts Department of Public Health and the USDA are investigating foods at the camp as the likely source of this illness. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will be assisting with this investigation.
“Our first concern is the health and safety of our students and staff,” said Lincoln School Superintendent Georgia Fortunado. “We are working collaboratively with the Department of Health on this response.”
Officials said another case had been confirmed since Wednesday and three children remained in hospital in a stable condition on Friday evening. All those affected had visited Godstone Farm, near Redhill. The farm closed on 12 September after the outbreak emerged. The first link to infection was dated back to 8 August. Tests carried out confirmed that the E.coli bug was in animal droppings.
Four other farms have since closed, or partially closed, including Godstone's sister farm, Horton Park in Epsom, Surrey. The others are White Post Farm in Nottinghamshire, the World of Country Life farm, in Exmouth, Devon, and Big Sheep And Little Cow Farm in Bedale, North Yorkshire.
An independent investigation into the outbreak, and the response to it, has been started by the HPA. The HPA said on Wednesday the inquiry would be led by George Griffin, professor of infectious diseases at St George's, University of London.
In 2004 I gave a speech on the risks of petting zoos and E. coli - seems like the information did not make it to England. I also put up a website - www.fair-safety.com as a place to showcase outbreaks and how to prevent them. I now need to update it.
Victims of an August, 2008 outbreak of E. coli O111 have joined together to file suit against the Country Cottage restaurant, where they were sickened. The lawsuit was filed today in the District Court in the State of Oklahoma, in and for the County of Mayes, on behalf of twelve families.
“Many of us regularly entrust restaurants with our health and safety,” said the families’ attorney, William Marler. “There are stringent rules and regulations that restaurants must follow, because any deviation from those rules can cause illnesses. Sadly, this outbreak shows how very wrong things can go, and how much suffering can result.”
The outbreak at the Country Cottage Restaurant in Locust Grove, Oklahoma sickened 341 people, hospitalized 70, and caused the death of one man. Investigators quickly pinpointed the restaurant as the source of infection, but were unable to determine the specific vehicle. E. coli is often contracted by consuming food or beverage that has been contaminated by animal (especially cattle) manure. E. coli outbreaks have been tied to meat, produce, unpasteurized milk, cheese, and cider, sprouts, juice, and even water. The lawsuit cites the restaurant’s use of water from an unpermitted, on-site well just before the outbreak—in violation of Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) regulations – as a basis for punitive damages.
“These fourteen people collectively spent 250 days in the hospital, 84 of them on dialysis for kidney failure,” continued Marler. “Their medical bills are almost two million dollars, not to mention ongoing medical care that many will continue to need. Our job is to make sure that they don’t struggle to carry that immense burden by themselves.”
The UK's Veterinary Laboratories Agency (VLA) has tested feces from lambs, pigs, goats, cattle, ponies and rabbits at Godstone Farm near Surrey and found the dangerous E. coli O157:H7 strain in 33 of 102 samples. The Health Protection Agency (HPA) called in VLA.
"Joint HPA and VLA investigations have confirmed the presence of E. coli O157:H7 bacteria in feces from a wide range of animals on a premise in Surrey," said Nigel Gibbens, chief veterinary officer.
The number of children infected with E. coli O157:H7 while visiting Godstone Farm has increased to 67. According to BBC News, eight children remain in hospitals across Southeast England "in stable or improving conditions."
The injured are now coming forward to take legal action. Claims will be filed totaling hundreds of thousands of pounds, according to lawyers for the various families. "It is not simply about financial compensation, although that is a part of it," said Solicitor Jill Greenfield, who represents an unnamed young girl. "Some of these children could have long term medical conditions for which they will need financial compensation."
"But it's far too early to tell with any of them because E. coli is a bit of a slow burner," Solicitor Greenfield continued. "So at the moment it's about establishing what happened, establishing the facts and finding out why so many children ended up in the hospital with E. coli."
After controversy erupted over how long it took to close Godstone Farm to the public, three other farms with petting zoos have closed. Horton Park Children's Farm in Epsom, which is under the same ownership as Godstone Farm; White Post Farm in Nottinghamshire; and World Country Life Farm in Exmouth, Devon are now all shut down.
HPA, the leading investigator in the UK, believes the outbreak began on Aug. 8 at Godstone Farm. Godstone Farm closed Sept. 12th. Critics say the HPA allowed the petting zoo to remain open far too long.
All 67 cases in the outbreak are linked to Godstone Farm. Horton Park, its sister zoo, was closed down for "unsatisfactory" hygiene facilities. No illnesses are yet associated with Horton Park.
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South East England hospitals are caring for a dozen children with infections from the dangerous E. coli O157:H7 bacteria that they picked up at a popular petting farm near Surrey. All are under age 10.
All totaled health officials in the United Kingdom (UK) say 36 people were exposed to the bacteria, which was traced to the Godstone Farm & Playbarn, which allows children to touch animals.
Four of the E. coli victims are reported to be in serious condition.
Professor Hugh Pennington, who has led investigations of past E. coli outbreaks in the UK, said this is “a very large outbreak” and E. coli O157:H7 can be “quite dangerous” for young children because some will suffer complications to the brain, heart, and kidneys.”
UK health officials got the farm to close on Sept. 12th after measures to stem infections failed to halt the outbreak. Godstone Farm, which has up to 2,000 visitors a day, issued this statement on its website:
“Due to an E-coli outbreak, we have closed the farm until we can make sure it is quite safe for you all to visit us. “
“This is large outbreak of this infection,” said Dr. Angela Iverson, director of the local Health Protection Unit. She said the farm owners were cooperating with the investigation.
E. coli O157:H7 is an infection that people can pick up when handling or stroking animals, unless hands are thoroughly washing afterwards to minimize the risk,” Iverson said. “It can also spread easily from person-to-person.”
Children infected with E. coli O157:H7 will suffer from bloody diarrhea, severe abdominal pain and tenderness with no fever. Hospital laboratories confirm the diagnosis from stool samples.
More serious infections, however, can develop into a kidney disease known as Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (HUS). It is a severe, life-threatening complication that occurs in about 10 -15 percent of those infected with E. coli O157:H7.
"The kidney complications can be quite severe, resulting in long-term damage in some instances," Professor Pennington said.
Surrey and Sussex Health Protection Units are working with local environmental health officers and the Veterinary Laboratory Agency in the outbreak investigation. The initial onset of illnesses apparently occurred Aug. 8th.
Eastern Tennessee's Appalachian Fair is the suspected source of the E. coli O157:H7 infections in two children.
The Johnson City Medical Center is reporting that two children are being treated in the hospital with infections of the deadly bacteria.
A week ago, doctors found four-year-old Gage Peterson has E. coli. Three week prior to Peterson’s admission, another child came into the hospital with E. coli. That child is now in the pediatric ICU.
The Tennessee Health Department has yet to identify the source of Peterson’s infection, but family members say he may have contracted it while looking at cows at the Appalachian Fair.
The E. coli bacteria thrives in the intestinal tracts of cattle, pigs and goats and released through bowl movements.
"People just don't really understand how horrible food-borne illness is," said William Marler, a prominent Seattle-based food-safety lawyer who is representing the Rivera family and 23 other victims in the cookie dough outbreak. "They think food-borne illness is a tummy ache and diarrhea."
That quote from Mr. Marler is found today in a story that is all too rare--one from the perspective of the most seriously injured by food-borne illness.
It is the story of Linda Rivera, who ate Nestle cookie dough contaminated with E. coli O157:H7 and developed the life-threatening Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (HUS). She has spent about 120 in hospitals since eating the cookie dough last May, more than any of the Nestle victims.
Read the entire story by clicking on the headline below.
– “This Woman Might Die From Eating Cookie Dough - Severe Case Gives Context to Issue of Food Safety”
Richard cares for wife Linda Rivera.
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Kim Archer of the Tulsa World has done a great job of recalling the horrors of the United States’ largest E. coli O111 outbreak.
• 341 were sickened
• 70 people were hospitalized, including 22 children
• 17 people received kidney dialysis, including eight children
• 1 man died
Excerpts from the Article about just one of the victims:
His entire life, Kenneth Birkes has worked seven days a week from dawn to dark. Then he ate a meal in honor of his father's 85th birthday at Country Cottage in Locust Grove. It was Sunday, Aug. 17, 2008. Five days later, Birkes fell ill. The 61-year-old Grove man hasn't worked since.
"I was up in Kansas to get a drilling rig out in the country," he said. "It hit me so quick." He had just put the rig on a trailer and driven to the town of Edna, all the while calling his wife to tell her he needed help.
"That's really the last thing I remember," Birkes said. His wife initially took him to a hospital in Coffeyville, Kan., but he continued to get worse. He didn't wake up until six weeks later at St. Francis Hospital.
Birkes said he went from making $12,000 a month to nothing.
"This pretty well wiped us out," he said. After three months in the hospital, he had to learn to walk again. Now, he has migraines four days a week and is only able to go three hours at a time before needing to rest.
"I'm still alive, and that's all that matters," Birkes said.
Birkes is among a group of clients of Seattle attorney Bill Marler asking for a settlement from the restaurant's insurance company.
"If they turn us down, we have no choice but to sue the restaurant and the owners for the policy and all personal assets," Marler said.
Infection from E. coli 0157:H7 has now been confirmed in four people from three families in Wrexham, England who made the mistake of dining at the Llay Fish Bar.
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E. coli 0157:H7 put 32-year old Karen Morrisroe-Clutton on life support and meant renal failure for three-year old Abigail Hennessey.
The two others who became ill did not require hospitalization. Both Karen, in hospital, and Abigail, just released, are said to be recovering.
Professor Hugh Pennington, who authored reports following outbreaks of E.coli, in Scotland, in 1996, and in South Wales in 2005, told the Western Mail newspaper: “It’s almost ‘Here we go again’.”
Professor Pennington said he hoped his last report on the outbreak in South Wales that killed five-year-old Mason Jones would reduce the incidence of E.coli.
The Llay Fish Bar was closed after the latest outbreak. In August 2008, it got the lowest score possible in a health inspection, but did just enough to remain in business.
The entire Western Mail interview with Professor Pennington is in Wales Online.
I am starting to get Epidemiological outbreak responses from states. I found the below page in the Arizona State Health Department records. It is a CDC generated document that was sent to participating states in an outbreak conference call.
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The page above shows data obtained from the case-control study conducted as part of the outbreak investigation. The ONLY food item that was statistically associated with illness was Nestle Toll House cookie dough. These data show that: Raw cookie dough was the ONLY food item that sick persons were more likely to eat than no sick persons. This holds true for the matched analysis result (42.8) and the unmatched analysis result (55.6).
Ill cases were 50 times more likely to eat raw cookie dough than non-cases. Furthermore, with a p-value of <0.0001, these results are extremely significant and can be interpreted that there is less than a 1 in 10,000 chance that the association between eating raw cookie dough and illness is not a true association. These are exceptional odds ratios and p-values in a foodborne illness outbreak.
Furthermore, sick people were no more likely to eat ground beef than non-sick people.
Given both FDA's and CDC's work on this outbreak, Nestle needs to deal with the reality that its product poisoned over 70 people, sending dozens to the hospital - many with Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome.
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After inspecting the Danville Plant on 06/18/2009, 06/19/2009, 06/22/2009, 06/23/2009, 06/24/2009, 06/25/2009, 06/26/2009, 07/07/2009, 07/08/2009, and 07/09/2009, the FDA posted the following observations. The full report can be found by clicking on image to left.
OBSERVATION 1
The workmanship of equipment does not allow proper cleaning. Specifically, inside the "Toll House" brand cookie dough preparation room, dry ingredients are placed inside hoppers. The dry ingredients are gravity fed to blending mixers through gate valves that are installed on the hoppers. As a result of this investigation, the firm disassembled all gate valves from all hoppers on production lines 8, 10, 11, and 12. The gate valves appear to have food contact surfaces that are not easily cleanable as evidenced by rough, pitted and discolored cast metal alloy.
OBSERVATION 2
Lack of appropriate design to enable manufacturing systems to be maintained in an appropriate sanitary condition. Specifically, as "Toll House" brand cookie dough was mixed on 6-18-09, ice build-up surrounded pipes that transport a processing aid to mixers on production lines 8, 10, 11, and 12. On line 8, condensate from the ice dripped onto a metal rake that personnel then used to scrape cookie dough from the mixer into a dough trough for transport to the filling line.
"I understand that hundreds if not a thousand samples were taken - and presume that they were negative. Certainly, the above observations are some cause for concern, but I have seen far worse "483's" from other plants in 16 years of foodborne illness litigation," said food safety attorney William Marler.
The Mountain Mail in Salida, CO reported on a cluster of E coli victims in the small Rocky Mountain community. Two cases are confirmed and three others have symptoms that are consistent with E. coli 0157:H7 infections.
Both the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment and the Chaffee County Public Health District are investigating, but neither has connected the Salida illnesses with a specific source.
Connections could be made to either one of two national E. coli outbreaks-- the one linked to beef from the JBS Swift Co. in Greeley, CO, which has made at least 23 people infections with E. coli 0157:H7 in nine states or the nationwide Nestle refrigerated raw cookie dough outbreak. Or maybe there is another source.
Or who knows? David Acheson, the nearest thing the federal government has to a utility in-fielder for food safety, was pushed out to say we should not expect much from Uncle Sam’s investigation of the poison Nestle cookie dough.
“This will be one of those situations where we won’t definitely know what went wrong,” Acheson said.
That “situation,” according to a late Friday update from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) now involves 74 confirmed cases in 32 states, all matched from PFGE testing with onset ranges from March 16 to June 11. Thirty-four have required hospital stays and ten developed Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (HUS).
Acheson, who started with the feds as senior food scientist for the U.S. Department of Agriculture and now is FDA’s assistant commissioner for food safety, sounds like a man giving up.
Cookie dough samples have tested positive for different strains of E. coli, but not yet the exact PFGE match to those who are ill. And how any E. coli is getting in the cookie dough is a mystery.
FDA is good at what its done. Testing equipment and ingredients, including the flour that might have been contaminated in the field. But what it’s done is not good enough. If FDA wants to give up, fine.
Maybe another agency would be better suited to finishing this investigation. If equipment and ingredients are all clean, let’s not remove the yellow tape around this crime scene too quickly. Not until everyone who had access to this plant is also investigated, employees, management, visitors.
Let’s turn it over to the FBI.
Fresh on the heels of revelations by ABC news that three different E. coli strains have been linked to 
the nationwide outbreak of E. coli in cookie dough, the Wall Street Journal reports that Nestle is restarting production. The Danville, Virginia plant was closed on June 19, when E. coli illnesses across the country were tied to the raw cookie dough produced there. The FDA investigation of the plant found E. coli in an unopened package of the cookie dough and E. coli was also found in in a package of Nestle refrigerated cookie dough in the home of a victim. Both of those strains, or serotypes, are different from that found in the stool of the 72 people who were infected by eating the cookie dough, meaning that three strains have now been associated with the product.
Interestingly, Nestle continued processing other food products at the Danville factory while the cookie dough production was shut down.
Questions continue to swirl around the outbreak, as no source has yet been identified in the E. coli contamination of the Nestle Cookie Dough product. Now the multiple strains of E. coli connected to the outbreak add another layer of mystery - and yet, production resumes.
The “cow to cookie” mystery has yet to be solved. We speak of course about how E. coli O157:H7, which usually originates in the hindgut of cows, made its way into raw refrigerated cookie dough made at the Nestle plant in Danville, VA.
While you are waiting for the answer, you might want to read the paperback edition of Microcosm: E. Coli and the New Science of Life by science writer Carl Zimmer which is being published this month.
In his Discovery Magazine blog, Zimmer makes this prediction: “There’s no official word for how the bacteria got from a cow to a cookie (or at least, a cookie in the making). But chances are good that the story is going to be complicated, in a way that’s both disturbing and fascinating.”
It’s well worth checking out, even if the thought that cookie E. coli might has “evolved its own peculiar set of genes” is a whole lot more scary than any cookie monster.
As of the last report, which is now a week and day old, 72 persons infected with a strain of E. coli O157:H7 with a particular DNA fingerprint have been reported from 30 states.
The Following outlets were identified today by JBS Swift and FSIS:
Price Chopper
Hannaford
Stop & Shop
Food 4 Less
Fry's
Smith's
Costco
Sams Club
Kroger
SAV a Lot
Knight Super Foods #4
Weldon's Meat Market
Jasper Mercantile
Keeney's Food Mart
Sweetbay
All DAY AM PM MART
Hobby's Hoagies Produce
SHRTN HTL Produce
Giant
Several state health departments, CDC, and the United States Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service (USDA-FSIS) are investigating a multi-state outbreak of Escherichia coli O157:H7 infections. On June 24, FSIS issued a notice about a recall of 41,280 pounds of beef products from JBS Swift Beef Company that may be contaminated with E. coli O157:H7. On June 28, the recall was expanded to include 380,000 pounds of assorted pieces of beef (beef primal products) from the same company. Health officials in several states who were investigating reports of E. coli O157:H7 illnesses found that most ill persons had consumed ground beef, and many reported that it was undercooked. At least some of the illnesses appear to be associated with products subject to these recalls. Samples from unopened packages of ground beef recovered from a patient's home were tested by the Michigan Public Health Laboratory yielded an E. coli O157:H7 isolate that matched the "DNA fingerprint" of the outbreak strain.
Twenty three persons infected with a strain of E. coli O157:H7 with a particular "DNA fingerprint" have been reported from 9 states. Of these, 17 have been confirmed by an advanced DNA test as having the outbreak strain; confirmatory tests are pending on others. The number of ill persons identified in each state is as follows: California (4), Maine (1), Michigan (6), Minnesota (1), New Hampshire (1), New Jersey (2), New Mexico (1), New York (1) and Wisconsin (6).
Most ill persons reported consumption of ground beef, and many reported that it was undercooked. Ground beef with the outbreak strain was obtained from the home of one person infected with that strain. The first reported illness began on April 2, 2009, and the last began on June 13, 2009. Among 17 ill persons for whom hospitalization status is known, 12 (70%) were hospitalized. Two patients developed a type of kidney failure called hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS). No deaths have been reported. Of patients with available information, 14 (64%) were male and 59% are less than 19 years old (range 2 to 74 years).
Most of the beef packages in the first recall bear the establishment number "Est. 969" inside the USDA mark of inspection and have identifying package dates of "042109" or "042209." Consumers are urged to check their refrigerators and freezers for beef products produced by this firm and purchased on or after April 21, 2009 and discard or return the recalled beef products to the place of purchase for a refund. The pieces of beef (primal beef products) in the expanded recall were produced on April 21, 2009, and were distributed nationally and internationally. Boxes of these pieces of beef bear the establishment number "EST. 969" inside the USDA mark of inspection, the identifying package date of "042109," and a time stamp ranging from "0618" to "1130." These pieces of beef were sold to retail stores nationwide after April 21, 2009, and some was probably cut again or made into ground beef, then re-packaged, so packages purchased by consumers may not have identifying information. Customers with questions about the source of a package of beef should contact the place where they purchased it (e.g., grocery store, club store, or meat market).
Federal food safety officials are on the ground at the Danville, VA plant (see picture on right) that made the recalled Nestle's cookie dough, the Washington Post reported this morning.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is trying to solve the mystery of why and how a bacteria found in the gut of a cow found its way into raw cookie dough, causing a national E. coli 0157:H7 outbreak. From the WP:
Health officials and food producers puzzled yesterday over how E. coli 0157, a bacterium that lives in the intestines of cattle, could have ended up in a product that seems so unlikely to contain it. "It's a fascinating outbreak," said Craig Hedberg, an expert on food-borne diseases at the University of Minnesota. "By just looking at package labeling, there is no reason you would expect an event like this to occur."
The outbreak, which has sickened at least 65 people in 29 states, is the latest worry for consumers in the Washington area and across the country unnerved by a wave of food-borne illnesses, including botulism associated with canned chili and infections from salmonella linked to peanut products. With cookie dough, like peanut butter, being a favorite of children, the latest outbreak is particularly alarming because the young and the elderly are more likely to develop severe complications if infected with E. coli 0157. More than two-thirds of the 65 victims are younger than 19, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. None has died.
The same article raises Nestle's warning not to eat raw cookie dough. But then reports: William Marler, a prominent food safety lawyer in Seattle who is representing six of the E. coli 0157 victims, said Nestlé's warning label is not a defense. "It doesn't absolve them of liability," he said.
Read more in the Washington Post.
It's rare that an "FDA Medwatch" is about food. Usually, such alerts are for medical professionals and address something having to do with drugs or medical devices. The national E. coli 0157:H7 outbreak associated with Nestle's cookie dough, however, is very unusual and this FDA Medwatch has been issued for both consumers and all healthcare professionals:
FDA and the CDC are warning consumers not to eat any varieties of prepackaged Nestle Toll House refrigerated cookie dough due to the risk of contamination with E. coli O157:H7 (a bacterium that causes food borne illness). The warning is based on an ongoing epidemiological study conducted by the CDC and several state and local health departments. Since March 2009 there have been 66 reports of illness across 28 states. Twenty-five persons were hospitalized; 7 with a severe complication called Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (HUS). No one has died.E. coli O157:H7 causes abdominal cramping, vomiting and a diarrheal illness, often with bloody stools. Most healthy adults can recover completely within a week. Young children and the elderly are at highest risk for developing HUS, which can lead to serious kidney damage and even death.
FDA advises that if consumers have any prepackaged, refrigerated Nestle Toll House cookie dough products in their home that they throw them away. Cooking the dough is not recommended because consumers might get the bacteria on their hands and on other cooking surfaces. Individuals who have recently eaten prepackaged, refrigerated Toll House cookie dough and have experienced any of these symptoms should contact their doctor or health care provider immediately. Any such illnesses should be reported to state or local health authorities.
Please continue reading for the outbreak map, including a case-breakdown by state, from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The Danville News just put this report on its website:
Nestle USA has stopped production in half of its Danville, VA plant following a Centers for Disease Control and Food and Drug Administration investigation that the company’s cookie dough may be connected to a recent E. coli outbreak. “The Danville facility makes the majority of our Nestle Toll House refrigerated cookie dough,” said Roz O’Hearn, spokeswoman for the company. The Danville plant also makes refrigerated pasta, which has not been connected to the E. coli outbreak. Workers will still produce the pasta, but the company is anticipating temporary layoffs for the workers who make the cookie dough in Danville, O’Hearn said. No other Toll House products are affected by the recall. Officials are asking those with the Toll House refrigerated cookie dough to throw it out or take it back to the store for a refund.
Following Bill Marler's exclusive last night on his personal blog, the State of Colorado, and Toll House Cookies, the federal government just issued this release on the Toll House Cookie crisis:
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are warning consumers not to eat any varieties of prepackaged Nestle Toll House refrigerated cookie dough due to the risk of contamination with E. coli O157:H7 (a bacterium that causes food borne illness).
The FDA advises that if consumers have any prepackaged, refrigerated Nestle Toll House cookie dough products in their home that they throw them away. Cooking the dough is not recommended because consumers might get the bacteria on their hands and on other cooking surfaces.
Retailers, restaurateurs, and personnel at other food-service operations should not sell or serve any Nestle Toll House prepackaged, refrigerated cookie dough products subject to the recall.
Nestle USA, which manufactures and markets the Toll House cookie dough, is fully cooperating with the ongoing investigation by the FDA and CDC. The warning is based on an ongoing epidemiological study conducted by the CDC and several state and local health departments. Since March 2009 there have been 66 reports of illness across 28 states. Twenty-five persons were hospitalized; 7 with a severe complication called Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (HUS). No one has died.
E. coli O157:H7 causes abdominal cramping, vomiting and a diarrheal illness, often with bloody stools. Most healthy adults can recover completely within a week. Young children and the elderly are at highest risk for developing HUS, which can lead to serious kidney damage and even death.
Individuals who have recently eaten prepackaged, refrigerated Toll House cookie dough and have experienced any of these symptoms should contact their doctor or health care provider immediately. Any such illnesses should be reported to state or local health authorities.
The FDA reminds consumers they should not eat raw food products that are intended for cooking or baking before consumption. Consumers should use safe food-handling practices when preparing such products, including following package directions for cooking at proper temperatures; washing hands, surfaces, and utensils after contact with these types of products; avoiding cross contamination; and refrigerating products properly.
On the heels of the warning Colorado issued about Nestle Toll House cookies, the company issued the following press release:
(SOLON, Ohio) – June 19th, 2009 – Nestlé USA’s Baking Division is initiating a voluntary recall of Nestlé® TOLL HOUSE® refrigerated cookie dough products.
Nestlé is taking this action out of an abundance of caution after being notified that the Food and Drug Administration, together with the Centers for Disease Control, are conducting an investigation into reported E. coli 0157:H7 illnesses that may be related to consumption of raw cookie dough.
A number of consumers reporting illness reported consuming raw Nestlé TOLL HOUSE refrigerated cookie dough. While the E. coli strain implicated in this investigation has not been detected in our product, the health and safety of our consumers is paramount so we are initiating this voluntary recall.
We have been and will continue to cooperate fully with the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control in this investigation. Providing safe, high quality products to our consumers is our number one priority.
No other Nestlé TOLL HOUSE products are impacted, including already baked TOLL HOUSE cookies purchased outside the home, all varieties of Nestlé TOLL HOUSE morsels, chocolate baking bars, or cocoa, and Dreyer’s and Edy’s ice cream products with Nestlé TOLL HOUSE cookie dough ingredients.
We want to strongly advise consumers that raw cookie dough should not be eaten. This message also appears prominently on our packaging. Nestlé TOLL HOUSE cookies made from refrigerated dough are safe to consume when baked as directed on the package.
Consumers who have purchased these products should not consume them. Instead, we are asking that consumers return these products to their local grocer for a full refund. We invite consumers with questions to contact Nestlé Consumer Services at 1-800-559-5025 and visit our web site at www.verybestbaking.com.
The products involved in the voluntary recall include all varieties of Nestlé TOLL HOUSE refrigerated Cookie Bar Dough, Cookie Dough Tub; Cookie Dough Tube; Limited Edition Cookie Dough items; Seasonal Cookie Dough and Ultimates Cookie Bar Dough. Variety information is included in the list attached.
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DENVER--The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment is urging Coloradans not to eat raw Nestle Toll House cookie dough because of possible contamination with E. coli O157:H7.
Colorado state health officials, the CDC and several other state health departments are investigating an outbreak of E. coli O157:H7 infections. To date, 66 cases from 28 states have been identified. Preliminary evidence from the multi-state investigation suggests that Nestle Toll House cookie dough may be the source of the outbreak, although further investigation is ongoing.
Five cases have been reported in Colorado in the following counties: Denver, Douglas (2), Jefferson and Weld. Two of the people have been hospitalized, and one has developed a severe complication called hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS). Of the four people interviewed so far by the state health department, all had consumed the raw cookie dough during the week before they became ill.
Alicia Cronquist, the foodborne disease epidemiologist at the state health department, said, “We can’t be certain that raw cookie dough is the source of these infections, but we are concerned enough that it might be and want consumers to be aware.”
Daniel Rifkin, Wholesale Food Program manager for the Department of Public Health and Environment’s Consumer Protection Division, said, “Nestle is currently evaluating what actions they will take regarding their product. In the meantime, it is important that consumers do not eat or use raw Nestle Toll House cookie dough for now. If you decide to use the product, ensure that the cookies are cooked thoroughly and wash your hands well after handling the raw dough. More information will be forthcoming.”
Over the last few weeks we have been investigating E. coli O157:H7 illnesses in several states. All seemed unconnected. However, common food items were uncooked Nestles Toll House Cookie Dough, Strawberries, Fruit Roll-ups and Ground Beef. The vast majority reported eating Toll House Cookies.
We now have reports that federal, state and local health officials are investigating a cluster of at least 66 cases of E. coli O157:H7 in 28 states. Reports indicate the ill people's E. coli O157:H7 isolates share a common genetic pattern and likely a common source.
The link appears to have been made to Nestles Toll House Cookies.
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Maine CDC is investigating a cluster of 7 shiga toxin positive E. coli O157:H7 (STEC) cases in Cumberland and York counties that occurred among residents over the past month (case onset dates of April 17 to May 17). This is double the usual number of STEC cases reported this time of year (n=3). The median age of cases was 26 years (age range 14 years to 65 years). As of May 28, 6 of the 7 cases have been confirmed shiga positive E. coli O157:H7 by the Health and Environmental Testing Laboratory (HETL). Of these, 4 cases match by Pulse-Field Gel Electrophoresis (PFGE) and are considered part of a national cluster. At this time, the investigation is ongoing although we have not identified any common venues, events or foods based on case interviews.
What is PFGE?
When a sample is taken from either a person, piece of meat or poultry that is contaminated with a dangerous form of bacteria, such as E. coli O157:H7, listeria, or campylobacter, it can be cultured to obtain and identify the bacterial isolate. If a person consumes some of the contaminated meat or poultry, and becomes infected as a result, a stool sample can then be cultured to obtain and identify the bacterial isolate. These bacterial isolates are then broken down into their various component parts creating a DNA "fingerprint".
The process of obtaining the DNA fingerprint is called Pulse Field Gel Electrophoresis, or PFGE. This technique is used to separate the DNA of the bacterial isolate into its component parts. It operates by causing alternating electric fields to run the DNA through a flat gel matrix of agarose, a polysaccharide obtained from agar. The pattern of bands of the DNA fragments — or “fingerprints” — in the gel after exposure to the electrical current is unique for each strain and sub-type of bacteria. By performing this procedure, scientists can identify hundreds of strains of E. coli O157:H7 as well as strains of listeria and campylobacter, and other pathogenic bacteria.
The PFGE pattern of the bacteria can then be compared and matched up to the PFGE pattern of the strain of infected persons who consumed the contaminated product. When PFGE patterns match, they, along with solid epidemiological work, are proof that the contaminated product was the source of a person's illness.
It will be interesting to see if Maine, the CDC and other States' Health Departments will be able to link the illnesses in Maine to other states and to a possible source.
It seemed like such a good idea at the time. Everyone would meet at Regatta Park in downtown Oklahoma City at the corner of Reno and Lincoln. The race would begin off the docks of the Chesapeake Boathouse with a one lap, 1.5 kilometer swim across the Oklahoma River. The Boathouse International Triathlon would finish up with a 40k bike race and 10k foot race with $30,000 in prize money for the winners.
That was two weekends ago. Now, however, the Oklahoma Department of Health has reason to believe at least 20 of the 376 triathlon participants are sick with "gastrointestinal illness"
Race officials went ahead with the triathlon on May 16-17th even though water tests conducted on May 15th showed an E. coli count of 573 per 100 milliliters of water. The state standard for "primary body contact recreation," where ingesting water is possible, is a count no higher than 126 for E. coli.
State health officials are now asking every triathlon participant to fill out an online health survey.
Oklahoma's water woes are becoming all too common. Private well water was suspected in last year's outbreak of E. coli 0111 in Locust Grove, OK. The state's final report on that can be found here. Contamination from "poultry litter" has been a subject for litigation involving both the Oklahoma and Illinois rivers.
I did not serve hamburger to my kids at our Memorial Day Barbecue – again. Perhaps after 16 years of Litigating E. coli cases make me more wary than most, or perhaps it is the facts that on family of a seven year old is mourning the loss of their child – because she ate a hamburger. When is the Meat Industry going to get it?
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The presence of E. coli O157:H7 in hamburger was defined as an adulterant under the Federal Meat Inspection Act in 1994. However, recalls of E. coli O157:H7 contaminated meat and related illnesses continued over the next decade to grow, as did my law firm. Oddly too, and with near regularity, E. coli O157:H7 recalls and illnesses seemed to begin in the Spring and peak in late Summer and Fall from 1993 through 2002.
After 24 million pounds of contaminated beef were recalled in 34 separate incidents in 2002, recalls dropped off to just over a million pounds a year for the next three years, and then to just 181,900 pounds in 2006. The Centers of Disease Control and Prevention saw E. coli O157:H7 – related illnesses drop 48% between 2000 and 2006.
The reality is that from 1993 through 2002, children sickened with E. coli O157:H7 tainted hamburger made up the bulk of my law practice. However, as E. coli O157:H7 hamburger recalls fell from 2003 through the end of 2006, I wondered if the law firm would survive. Springs just simply were not the same.
But then came Spring 2007. E. coli O157:H7, which begins its life in the hindgut of a cow, mounted a surge on its home court. And, it came back with a vengeance. Since the Spring of 2007, forty-four million pounds of beef have been recalled in 25 incidents due to E. coli O157:H7. And, I am now back in the meat business, and look to Spring not just for the beginning of hay fever season.
Ohio health officials have confirmed the death of a 7-year old Cleveland girl due to an E. coli infection related to what is now a multi-state outbreak traced back to a troubled Illinois meatpacker.
Yesterday's recall of 96,000 pounds of ground beef from Valley Meats LLC was not a first time offense for the Coal Valley, IL business that is known to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) as "Establishment 5712."
J&B Meats, listed on USDA records as the processor for Valley Meats, previously:
Like the current recall, all the previous recalls from "Establishment 5712" were for E. coli contamination. Last time, consumer complaints led to the E. coli discovery. Before that it was the Wisconsin Health Department, and the first time, USDA didn't say.
Both Valley Meats and J&B Meats operate out of 2302 First Street in Coal Valley, IL, sharing the same establishment number and same address and phone number in USDA's files. J&B also is one of the brand names listed in the Valley Meats recall.
Outbreak Statistics At a Glance
Source of Outbreak: Country Cottage Restaurant, Locust Grove, OK
Outbreak Organism: E. coli O111:NM
Vehicle of Contamination: Unknown
Method of Spread: Foodborne transmission
Confirmed Outbreak Period: Aug. 15-24, 2008
Cases: 341
Hospitalizations: 70
Deaths: 1
The Oklahoma State Department of Health (OSDH) released its final report today on the investigation of the largest E. coli O111 outbreak ever documented in the United States. The outbreak, which occurred in late August 2008 in northeastern Oklahoma, sickened 341 people and resulted in one death.
The report detailed the agency’s extensive epidemiological investigation into the outbreak that included laboratory testing, personal interviews, and an in-depth environmental investigation. While the source of the outbreak – the Country Cottage restaurant in Locust Grove, OK, – was quickly identified, the vehicle for contamination was never found.
Laboratory analyses of specimens provided by those who became sick allowed the OSDH and the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to pinpoint E. coli 0111 as the bacterial organism responsible for persons’ illnesses. However, microbiological testing of food products and food preparation and serving surfaces in the restaurant, as well as testing symptomatic restaurant employees, samples from a private water well located on the property, water filters, and the Locust Grove municipal water supply, found no E. coli 0111. The OSDH released multiple situational updates during the investigation that reported no E. coli 0111 had been identified in its extensive testing process. Because the disease-causing organism was not found, the OSDH was unable to eliminate from consideration any of the potential vehicles for transmission of the bacteria into the restaurant, including well water. Even so, analysis of data collected during the investigation suggests there was ongoing foodborne transmission of E. coli O111 to restaurant customers from Aug. 15-24, 2008.
“What is important to remember is that when responding to an infectious disease outbreak, our primary objective is to rapidly identify the source of the infection to contain the outbreak and prevent any further spread,” said State Epidemiologist Dr. Kristy Bradley. “Within 48 hours of being notified of increased cases of persons with bloody diarrhea being admitted to Tulsa area hospitals, we identified the Country Cottagerestaurant as the common source of transmission. The restaurant closed voluntarily and the outbreak was contained.”
According to the CDC, only 10 outbreaks involving E. coli 0111 had been reported nationally prior to Oklahoma’s outbreak. The bacteria are from the family of Shiga toxin-producing E. coli bacteria, or STEC. Persons who ingest STEC may have a diarrheal illness ranging from very mild and non-bloody to severe with very bloody stools. The infectious dose is very small and STEC are often spread by ingesting food items contaminated with fecal matter that are not subsequently cooked. Person-to-person transmission, direct animal contact, and waterborne transmission, either from contaminated drinking water or recreational water, are other exposure routes.
State health officials said as of March 16, 2009, OSDH personnel have reported 6,481 hours of total accrued time and effort dedicated to the E. coli O111 outbreak investigation. This does not take into account the time and effort provided by Tulsa Health Department personnel, student volunteers, or medical staff at various hospitals and clinics who provided surveillance information.
Colorado's state government, from the Legislature on down, was closed Friday due to a spring snowstorm that dumped up to a couple of feet of snow on parts of metro Denver. Most state workers were sent home around 1 p.m. Thursday and won't be returning until Monday morning.
So had it not been for the storm maybe we'd know by now the results of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment investigation into the outbreak of E. coli 0157:H7 that sickened up to 30 children on the Front Range after they attended last January's National Western Stock Show in Denver.
"Thirty people became ill, and we strongly suspect it originated at the stock show," Alicia Cronquist, an epidemiologist for the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, told the Denver Post on March 18th.
"We are trying to find out what they did at the stock show that made them sick," said Cronquist.
This includes which exhibits they visited, which shows they went to and which animals they touched, she said.
Of the 30 cases, 29 have been confirmed through laboratory testing as E. coli with the "same fingerprint," Cronquist said. The 30th person sickened, she added, is a "probable case."
A report on the investigation is now due out at any moment---once everyone is back to work.
About 600,000 people annually attend the Stock Show.
Now let's get this straight.
The State of Oklahoma has sued the poultry industry led by Tyson Foods in federal court to stop the application of poultry litter as fertilizer in the Illinois River watershed.
Then when Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson suggests poultry litter pollution could be the cause of last summer's unsolved E coli 0111 outbreak in Locust Grove, which is well outside the IR watershed, Tyson's pr operation charges the AG with trying to influence potential jurors in the IR case.
And now after a bunch of private water wells in the Locust Grove area have been found to be free of the E. coli 0111 strain responsible for the outbreak that killed a local man and sickened 313. but are contaminated with other forms of the E coli bacteria, Tyson attorneys have asked a federal magistrate to let them depose the AG about the outbreak.
The AG does not plan on cooperating with the chicken lawyers. "They are talking about a half day or a full day out of my schedule for a fishing expedition," Edmondson told the Arkansas Democrat Gazette. "I don't intend to be a witness. It's gamesmanship, and I don't intend to play."
Chicken manure in the water is not a new story in Oklahoma. Tyson's and five other poultry companies agreed to pay a $7.3 million settlement fee to the City of Tulsa, to settle charges that the use of chicken waste as fertilizer had created phosphorus pollution in city's water.
For more on the latest moves in the Illinois River case, go here.
The United Kingdom has finished the inquiry into the island nation's second worst E. coil outbreak in its history. In the 2005 outbreak, there were 157 cases of E.coli at 44 schools, with 31 children needing hospital treatment. And five-year old Mason Jones, of the Deri Primary School, near Bargoed, South Wales, died. (The boy and the butcher are both pictured here.)
Now the official inquiry has found William Tudor, the butcher, was responsible. Nothing unexpected about that finding as Tudor, 55, already plead guilty to six counts of placing unsafe food on the market and was sentenced to 12 months in prison.
The official inquiry was extensive. It reviewed more than 45,000 pages of evidence; took 258 statements from 191 witnesses (excluding statements taken by South Wales Police); and heard from 63 witnesses called during six-weeks of public hearings.
While putting the blame squarely on Tudor, the report made extensive recommendations including:
Regulatory and enforcement bodies should employ more robust checks;For more on the report, go here.
The Centers For Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found plenty of E. coli bacteria in the test samples from private wells in the Locust Grove, OK area. CDC found E coli 0141, E coli 0179 and E coli 0113. All are types of bacteria that can cause illness in humans
But CDC found no E coli 0111, the rare strain that killed a man and made 313 others sick last year after they dined at the Country Cottage restaurant in Locust Grove.
The fact that no E. coli 0111 was found in any of the 20 wells that were found to be contaminated does not mean that the rare strain was NOT present in well water last year.
Prior to the outbreak last year, the Country Cottage for a time used its private well water because low public water pressure. The Oklahoma State Health Department found the bacteria was introduced into the Country Cottage restaurant, as all those sickened or who died had eaten there and contracted the bacteria at the restaurant.
But where the E coli 0111 actually originated remains a mystery. Tests of food items and water last year also came up negative for 011
Tests of at least 70 private wells in the area of the Country Cottage were ordered after the possibility was raised by Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson that the area’s ground water could be fouled by poultry litter on the surface. At least 20 wells were contaminated.
The state's investigation into the O111 outbreak appeared to have hit a dead-end before the Attorney General pushed for the well testing. Edmondson Monday charged that state epidemiologist Dr. Kristy Bradley had "botched" the investigation. He says Bradley in private says the Country Cottage well was the source of the 0111 outbreak.
Edmondson was in Denver Wednesday, appearing before the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals and seeking to have the state's injunction against the poultry industry in the Illinois River Watershed from disposing of poultry litter as fertilizer upheld. It was knocked down by a lower court.
The testing of private water wells in and around Locust Grove, OK continues with the number testing positive for E. coli has increasing to 20.
Three additional drinking water wells were found positive for E. coli. The well testing has also found total coliform bacteria contamination in some wells.
Last year's outbreak of the a rare strain of E. coli, known as 0111, was responsible for one death and 313 illnesses. The Country Cottage restaurant in Locust Grove, which had briefly used well water, was the common factor in the outbreak, but the precise source of the E coli 0111 has remained a mystery.
Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson, who suspects "poultry litter" from chicken farms in the area could be responsible for the E. coli contamination, turned state investigators on to the well water studies.
With this report out of the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality, there are two questions that need answers. First, can DEQ be specific about the strain of E. coli? And, second, can DEQ provide a map of the locations with positive results. We will explain more below. Here's the news:
DEQ says 59 of 74 private water wells tested in Locust Grove are positive for E coli bacteria. A rare strain of E. coli, known as 0111, killed one man and made hundreds sick after eating at the Country Cottage restaurant in Locust Grove last summer.
So, if DEQ has found the rare E. coli 0111 strain, it would amount to a "smoking gun." Further, if the locations that have tested positive are linked to the same underground water source the Country Cottage's own private well, then things really have gotten interesting.
Memo to poultry producers: you may want to back off on the comments about these tests being politically motivated by an ambitious Attorney General. For more about today's findings, go here.
E. coli at a Lemont, IL day care is responsible for making 21 children and one adult ill in an outbreak that began in early February.
The Cook County Health Department has ordered tests for all children and adults at the KinderCare Learning Center, 12404 Archer Ave.
Officials allowed the day care center to remain open so the children have a place to go and not possibly carry the bacteria to other centers.
Three children associated with the outbreak - linked to a lack of handwashing - were hospitalized but have since been treated and released.
The remaining children carrying the bacteria are all under the age of 5. They, along with the adult, have been sent home along with anyone experiencing diarrhea until tests for the bacteria turn up negative twice within 24 hours.
A person who has no symptoms could still test positive for the bacteria, the department warned.
KinderCare has stepped up its efforts to sanitize the center, including adding enhanced cleaning, additional staff to monitor handwashing, and hiring a certified nurse.
For a company with a corporate rap sheet that's longer than most, you have to admire the brash spokesman for Tyson Foods. We are talking about the one who wrote an email to the media stating that: "There has never been a single, documented instance of a water-borne bacteriological disease being caused by the use of poultry litter."
Tyson knows a thing or two about clean water, as few have as many convictions for violating the federal Clean Water Act as the nation's largest poultry processor. So when one of their flacks comes out using the words "never" and "documented" in the same sentence--well color us less than impressed.
What does impress us is when a state elected official steps up and refuses to take "good enough" for an answer. Locust Grove, OK, the Country Cottage restaurant, and 341 customers including 72 who required hospitalization and the man who died from E. coli 0111 are part of a mystery that deserves to be solved.
Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson has refused to accept state agencies reaching a dead-end in their investigation of the E. coli outbreak. Since he sued eight Arkansas poultry companies in 2005 for polluting the Illinois River Basin, his office has become expert in the damages that may be caused by "poultry litter.
So when Edmondson put his investigators on the E. coli 0111 outbreak, they couldn't help but notice that within a five mile radius of the Country Cottage were 49 poultry farms raising chickens for the likes of Tyson and Simmons Foods. Estimates are the operations involve something like 10,000 tons of poultry litter a year. So much that if it did not impact the ground water it would be a miracle.
To test the Attorney General office's theory, the water from nearly 70 private wells have been tested this week by the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality. Lab results will be available late next week.
In neighboring Cherokee County, however, E coli has been found in the well water of a mobile home park and the property has been put on a "boil water" order. Until the Locust Grove area results are in, poultry litter will remain a "possible source" of the bacteria that killed one and injured many.
Poultry litter is more than just chicken manure. It is a material used as bedding in poultry operations to render the floor more manageable. Common litter materials are wood shavings, sawdust, peanut hulls, shredded sugar cane, straw, and other dry, absorbant, low-cost organic materials. After use, the litter consists primarily of poultry manure, but also contains the original litter material, feathers, and spilled feed. (Or we might just call it a potential bacteriological cocktail.)
Shortly before the outbreak, the Country Cottage did use its private well water for a time when city water was not available.
Edmondson by insisting that ODEQ and the Health Department aggressively pursue these lines of inquiry has greatly upset the Arkansas-based chicken industry and even some in Oklahoma agriculture. But we say that's what political courage is all about.
Last summer a man was killed and 300 people became ill with an unusual strain of E coli 0111. All were connected to people who were customers of the Country Cottage restaurant in Locust Grove, OK.
But no definite water or food source was found for the E. coli 0111 and what brought the deadly pathogen into the little town located 50 miles east of Tulsa has remained a mystery. Although there was much investigating late last year, the state's Attorney General has come forward with an unusual theory of his own for the outbreak --poultry litter.
The AG office is investigating a possible link between the E. coli outbreak at the Country Cottage restaurant in Locust Grove and poultry litter contamination in the well water.
And the AG is getting his theory a full-blown investigation.
The Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) will inspect and sample the water in private wells within a five mile area of Locust Grove. The tests are scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday, Feb. 18-19.
“The goal is to protect the public,” said Attorney General Drew Edmondson. He said homeowners who use well water within five miles of Locust Grove can call to have their wells tested. He said the testing is to give homeowners information about what is in their wells so they can make informed decisions.
A report by the AG shows 39 active poultry houses in a 5-mile area of the Country Cottage which produce between 5,000 to 7,000 tons of waste each year.
Oklahoma's AG is no stranger to fighting poultry litter. He took the State of Arkansas to federal court over charges that poultry litter from 13 companies located there are contaminating the Illinois River basin that is shared by the two states. That case is now in the 10th District US Court of Appeals in Denver.
For more on the E. coli 0111 investigation, check out this edition of The Daily Times
Twenty people, including 17 children, from up and down Colorado's Front Range are suffering from confirmed cases of E. coli, Denver Public Health officials said today. The common thread -- all attended the National Western Stock Show held in late January in the Mile High City.
A lab has confirmed 20 E. coli cases but the number is expected to grow, said Chris Urbina with Denver Public Health.
The strain E. coli O157 primarily affected children on the Front Range, from Boulder to El Paso County.
"While the investigation is ongoing, we suspect that these infections are linked to attending the National Western Stock Show, which was held in Denver from Jan. 10 to Jan. 25," the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment said in a news release.
Although health officials haven't pinpointed the exact cause of the E. coli, the common denominator in all the cases is the stock show, Urbina said. For 12th year in a row, the National Western Stock Show attendance topped 600,000--making it one of the largest events of its kind in the nation.
No one from the Stock Show has yet addressed the e. coli outbreak. Many schools take students to the Stock Show. For more, go here.
The E. coli outbreak up in Ontario that dates back to October has officially been declared over. It impacted the hammer-head southeast area of Ontario that is closest to the United States.
Health officials tied the outbreak to romaine lettuce, but could not nail down the precise source.
The Ontario Ministry of Health and Long Term Care issued this summary:
"E. coli outbreaks in five health units have been declared over since the risk of ongoing transmission appears to have ended. The last date of onset for a confirmed case was November 6, 2008.
"Listed below is the updated number of cases for each of the five public health units, as of Friday, December 5, 2008 :
|
|
Total Cases |
Confirmed Cases |
Probable Cases (*) |
|
Niagara |
26 |
13 |
13 |
|
Guelph |
26 |
7 |
19 |
|
Halton |
12 |
6 |
6 |
|
Waterloo |
2 |
2 |
0 |
|
Hamilton |
1 |
1 |
0 |
(*) – Probable cases will never be reclassified as confirmed cases, as confirmed cases require laboratory confirmation and a PFGE pattern (DNA fingerprint) that matches the outbreak pattern. Laboratory confirmation or PFGE patterns were not obtained for these cases for reasons such as recovery from illness before samples were taken.
For more from the Ministry, go here.
Just a couple days short of three months of being closed after being cited as the source of the largest E. coli 0111 outbreak in modern history, the Country Cottage In Locus Grove, OK re-opened this weekend.
The restaurant located 50 miles east of Tulsa off the Cherokee Turnpike was allowed to re-open after reaching an agreement with state health officials. The Country Cottage had to disconnect a private well on the property, allow for environmental testing in the restaurant anytime upon demand by state health officials and implement a monitoring system for employee hand-washing.
The August outbreak became the largest in the nation's history for the rare E. coli strain O111, killing one man and sickening more than 300 adults and children in the rural community of 1,500.
Those sickened range in age from a few months to 88 years.
The outbreak has been blamed for the death of 26-year-old Chad Ingle of Pryor, who died Aug. 24, a week after eating at the restaurant.
Several young children required dialysis after being sickened. For more on the re-opening go here.
Unless you reside in the Rocky Mountains where wild Elk come every winter looking for food and warmth, you probably do not have to worry about this one.
However, if you or your kids go to someplace like Evergreen High School southwest of Denver, chances are Elk many times have rested on your football field or golf course.
So when, Jefferson County, west of Denver, found it was looking at a cluster of E. coli 0157:H7 cases, Elk and their droppings were suspect. Today's Rocky Mountain News reports:
"We track every case of E. coli 0157:H7," said Dr. Gayle Miller, senior epidemiologist with Jefferson County Health and Environment. Usually, the outbreaks are so sporadic that no useful links can be made.
This time, though, she found eight cases of the same strain. All eight kids were between 4 and 12 years old - six from Jefferson County and one each from Park and Clear Creek counties.
"We knew we had a cluster," she said.
"Next, she and her staff used a relatively new test, Pulse Field Gel Electrophoresis, and found that not only was the strain the same, but each child's E. coli had almost identical genetic markers.
She and her staff interviewed the kids to see if they could find a pattern.
"All did say they spent some time in the Evergreen area," Miller said.
They all were close to elk country, either through sports teams or spending time in parks.
This is first time that E coli contamination in humans has been directly linked to deer or elk. The rest of the story is here.
Tennessee has two laboratory-confirmed cases of E.coli 0157 from the Fayetteville-Lincoln County area with an ongoing investigation into what made as many as 180 people sick. At this point, the Tennessee Department of Health is clueless about the source of the contamination.
The Elk Valley Times, based in Fayetteville, reports:
"The Department of Health has two laboratory-confirmed cases of E.coli 0157 from the Lincoln County area," Shelley Walker, communication coordinator for the Tennessee Department of Health in Nashville, said late Monday afternoon.
"After an extensive investigation, so far no source for these cases of illness has been identified," she said.
"We have interviewed more than 180 people as part of this ongoing investigation."
The Health Department did not have specific information about the patients involved in the case, Walker said, however, the investigation into the source of the illnesses and any other suspected cases continues.
The rest can be found here.
E. coli outbreaks in Halton, Niagara and Waterloo that have sickened hundreds have been linked by DNA tests showing they share the same rare genetic makeup. Public health officials are also investigating whether E. coli cases at the University of Guelph have the same DNA fingerprint. Of the cases linked in Ontario, 13 have been confirmed in the Niagara Region, three in Halton and two in Waterloo. Another 106 cases in Niagara and Halton are being investigated. In the United States, the genetic code recently showed up in five cases of the food-borne pathogen in Southern California, South Dakota and New Jersey
Apple cider is suspected as a the cause of E coli poisonings in Iowa and Illinois. There are now a 
half dozen E coli cases in the area. According to WKOW-TV in Madison,Wisconsin:
There are now six confirmed cases of E coli in the Tri-States, and a source might have been discovered among the ones in Southeast Iowa. According to the Burlington Hawkeye, late last week, the Des Moines County and Lee County Health Departments each confirmed another infection. That puts the E coli case count at three in Lee County, two in Des Moines County, and one in Hancock County. Yesterday, the Hancock County Health Department released a statement saying their case was unrelated to the recent Iowa infections. The Hawkeye reports that sources close to the Iowa cases believe that unpasteurized apple cider caused children to become sick. However, no businesses or facilities have been asked to shut down in connection to the cases. It is not uncommon for ground apples to be used for making cider, but people often forget that cows often visit such areas first. Also the Iowa Department of Public Health put out a press release Tuesday warning people to take caution when drinking unpastuerized apple cider. The story of one of the victims, 7-year-old TiAhnna Bryant, can be found here.
There are fewer restaurants open in Ontario due to E coli outbreaks. Add M.T. Bellies in Welland to
the list that already includes the Little Red Rooster restaurant in Niagara-on-the-Lake and Harvey's in North Bay--all closed because they are associated with ongoing E coli outbreaks.
The Canwest News Service reports that:
Health officials in the Niagara region are investigating eight new cases of E. coli infection, bringing to 31 the number of people suspected of having been sickened by the food-borne bacterium.
Eighteen of the currently suspected cases have been linked to the Little Red Rooster restaurant in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont., and nine cases are connected to M.T. Bellies in Welland, Ont., Niagara Region Public Health officials said Thursday.
The remaining four have not yet been tied to a particular locale.
Medical officials have not yet been able to identify a specific source for the O157: H7 strain of E. coli at the centre of the outbreak.
Four hundred miles north, North Bay Parry Sound District Health Unit officials were investigating 235 cases in the central Ontario city, 45 of which have been confirmed as caused by the particular strain of E. coli. Harvey's restaurant in North Bay closed on Oct. 12th.
There are almost 400 miles between the Harvey's restaurant in North Bay and the Little Red Rooster restaurant in Niagara-on-the-Lake, but the two Ontario restaurants may be sharing a E. coli outbreak.
In North Bay, the number of confirmed E. Coli cases was up to 229. In Niagara, the count stood at 18.
Bjorn Christensen, the Niagara's director of environmental health, said they have not yet been able to determine the specific source of the E. coli, but it is commonly found in undercooked beef.
Investigators are looking at other possible sources, including other restaurants and food distributors in the area.
Christensen said that given the restaurant's popularity with tourists and proximity to the U.S. border, it is possible new cases might be found outside of the region.
Meanwhile, in the central Ontario city of North Bay, health officials said 12 more cases of E. coli are being investigated for a total of 229 cases.
Forty-four of those cases have been confirmed to be E. coli O157: H7.
Both Ontario restaurants closed as a result of the E. coli outbreaks (or outbreak) Go here for more.
Harvey's restaurant in North Bay, Ontario must have been a popular place. The number of E coli 0157:H7 cases linked to Harvey's increased today to 190, up from 158 just a day earlier. Of those, 36 have been confirmed by laboratory results. CBC News gave this report:
"We believe the increase in the number of cases is largely due to people who are still reporting their symptoms and are within the expected timeframe of the outbreak," the North Bay Parry Sound District Health Unit said in a statement.
The cases are spread across nine health unit districts in Ontario and one in Quebec, and the majority remain linked to the Harvey's on Algonquin Avenue in North Bay, the city's health unit said.
All of the initial food samples collected on Oct. 12, when health officials shut down the restaurant, have tested negative for E. coli strain.
All of the packaged food from the restaurant have also tested negative for E. coli, according to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.
Go here for more, including information on contacting the District Health Unit.
A University of Michigan student has filed a lawsuit against Detroit-based Aunt Mid's Produce in connection with a statewide E. coli outbreak last month. The lawsuit -- the second against Aunt Mid's 
since the outbreak -- was filed Monday in Washtenaw County Circuit Court on behalf of a U-M senior who alleges she was sickened in the outbreak, which has been linked to Aunt Mid's. At least 38 people were sickened in Michigan last month by an E. coli strain linked to industrial-size packages of iceberg lettuce distributed by Aunt Mid's to restaurants and institutions. In her complaint, the student says she consumed the contaminated lettuce in mid-September, and by Sept. 19, she began to experience abdominal cramps, vomiting, and bloody diarrhea. She sought treatment at the University of Michigan Health Service Clinic. An MSU student has also sued Aunt Mid's in connection with the E. coli outbreak.
We are beginning to wonder if the number and seriousness of E. coli 0157:H7 has become so
routine that its like background music.
The North Bay, Ontario outbreak has reached 159 confirmed and suspected cases, say Canadian health officials. South of the border, there are 10 more 0157:H7 victims in Vermont, where Vermont Livestock, Slaughter and Processing Co. has recalled of 2,758 pounds of ground beef due to the fact that they may be contaminated with E. coli.
Across the country north of Seattle, health officials in Snohomish County say they are investigating at least six cases of E. coli poisoning.
Some of the anger that is common with E. coli victims was documented by The Canadian Press. It reports:
Twenty-year-old student Kelly Fortier says she's angry her life has been put on hold since eating two weeks ago at a local Harvey's restaurant linked to the outbreak.
She suffered terrible cramps and bloody diarrhea and was hospitalized for four days, and she still can't go to school or work.
"I'm still in isolation - I can't go anywhere," Fortier said.
"I have other things to do, which I can't do. I was upset when I was in hospital, because I thought I was dying. But mainly I'm just angry."
The Oklahoma State Health Department arrived in Locust Grove at nightfall last Aug. 22nd to
They knew by the next day that the Country Cottage restaurant was implicated in the outbreak, but allowed popular family dining spot to remain open until it closed voluntarily three days later on Aug. 26th.
The slow response was detailed today by Daily Oklahoman reporters Tony Thornton, Randy Ellis and Nolan Clay. They reported that:
State Health Department officials allowed a Locust Grove restaurant to stay open temporarily — even after confirming six of eight initial food poisoning victims had eaten its food, internal documents show.
That decision may have resulted in additional people getting sick.
A rare strain of E. coli, 0111, caused the outbreak that killed a 26-year old man, put 72 in the hospital including seriously injured children, and made another 241 sick.
The Country Cottage remains closed. According to health officials, every 0111 victim had consumed food prepared by the Country Cottage. Officials have been unable to isolate a single source.
The work of the Oklahoman's investigative reporters can be found here.
Canada has seen more of its fair share of food-borne illness in recent months, especially with the Maple Leaf listeria outbreak that has killed 20. Now its got a full-blown E. coli outbreak on its hands as well.
Ontario's North Bay Parry Sound Health District today is reporting its:
...caseload of people who are ill with symptoms of E coli O157:H7 has increased overnight, as was anticipated. There are now 14 lab-confirmed cases of E coli and 38 are under investigation, bringing the total to 52 cases connected to this E coli outbreak investigation. All of the people who have become ill are linked to the Harvey’s Restaurant on Algonquin Avenue since September 28th 2008.
“Unfortunately, because of the number of meals served at Harvey’s Restaurant on a daily basis and the long incubation period of E coli O157:H7, we did predict that there would be an increase in the number of people who might be affected.” says Dr. Catherine Whiting, Medical Officer of Health. “Right now, I can tell you that the ages of the people who are ill range from 9 years old up to 84 years of age. Some of them are in hospital and some are recovering at home.”
Public Health Inspectors continue to collect information and analyze data to ensure that all possible sources of E coli are being investigated. City of North Bay emergency crews also conducted extra testing on the municipal water during the weekend. Lab test results confirm that drinking water is not the source.
For more from the Health District, go here. North Bay is a city of about 54,000 in northeastern Ontario. Its history is associated with the Canadian Pacific Railway.
Today farms selling raw milk in Vermont held open houses. They invited city and town folk to "hop
from farm to farm and spend the afternoon getting to know the farmers, dairy cows and goats in your community and beyond. Tour the farms, taste the milk, and even purchase a gallon to bring home!"
When they picked Sunday, Oct. 5, for the event, the raw milk dairies probably did not anticipate it would coincide with an E. coli outbreak blamed on their product.
Three people from Orleans County, Vermont are down the E. coli after consuming either raw milk or ice cream made with raw milk, health officials say.
In Vermont, farmers are allowed to sell small quantities of raw milk and raw milk products, but only on the farm. State health officials and the state Agency of Agriculture recommend that raw milk not be consumed.
The suggested donation for Sunday's open house was $10 per family, and all proceeds went benefit Rural Vermont's Farm Fresh Milk Campaign. Maybe the Campaign will step up and pay some medical bills! But we bet the milk goes sour long before that happens.
Public Health Officials Investigating wave of E. coli cases
Boulder County Public Health (BCPH) is currently investigating a cluster of E. coli O157:H7 infections associated with students attending the University of Colorado at Boulder (CU). Since September 23rd, BCPH has investigated eight related cases.
Initial investigations indicate that on-campus dining is not related to the illness. BCPH staff is working closely with CU and the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) to identify the source of the outbreak and any additional cases among students and the public. According to the Daily Camera, Initial investigations showed that on-campus dining isn't related to the outbreak, but health officials are still trying to identify the source. Of the eight cases, seven are CU students and one is a sorority adviser. Most of the affected students are members of the same sorority, which CU officials declined to name.
There have been recent E. coli outbreaks traced to steaks and lettuce.
There are places with bad karma and it makes you wonder why. Locust Grove, OK is such a place. The town of 1500 was, 30 years ago, the center for the murders of three Girl Scouts at camp. Murders that remain unsolved. Then there was the more recent killing of an elderly couple south of town. Killings that remain unsolved.
Now there's the outbreak of E. coli 0111 that made more than 300 sick and killed 26-year old Chad Ingle, a bank teller and newlywed from the nearby town of Pryor. Officially the outbreak is over, but the suffering continues.
KJRH-TV 2 in Tulsa reports:
13-year-old Lexy Morton was hospitalized due to E. coli for five weeks.
"She went through kidney dialysis. She had trouble with her pancreas, her kidneys, and her liver. She's lost a lot of muscle mass and a lot of weight," said Becky Morton, Lexy's mother.
She's been out of the hospital for a week now, but her treatments aren't over yet, "They're still taking bloodwork. We have to go a couple of times a week to the doctor," said Morton.
The Morton family is uninsured and now coping with $800,000 in medical bills. For more, go here.
Health officials have yet to find out how the 0111 strain of E coli got into the Country Cottage restaurant in Locust Grove, where most of the victims contacted the bacteria.
Whether or not it will remain another Locust Grove unsolved mystery remains to be seen. With the bad karma, however, we fear his too may remain unsolved.
The Michigan Department of Community Health is issuing a public health alert after dozens of cases of E. coli surfaced. It now appears the E. coli outbreak is linked to iceberg lettuce that came from a wholesale distributor.
As a precautionary measure, the Michigan Department of Community Health (MDCH) is issuing a public health alert due to illnesses from the 26 cases of E. coli strain O157:H7 that are thought to be associated with bagged, industrial-sized packages of iceberg lettuce sold through wholesale venues to restaurants and institutions.
There is no evidence that the bagged lettuce at grocery stores is affected.
Some of the 26 Michigan cases consumed shredded or chopped iceberg lettuce in restaurants or institutions purchased from Aunt Mid's Produce Company, a Detroit-based wholesale distributor; and other distributing outlets could be identified. Product trace back and additional tests results are still in progress.
Our top priority at the Michigan Department of Community Health is to protect the public, said Dr. Gregory Holzman, chief medical executive for MDCH. We appreciate all of the assistance from Aunt Mid's. They have been very helpful in this investigation. We want to ensure that the public's health and well-being is protected. Even though the investigation is ongoing, available evidence is strongly pointing to iceberg lettuce.
The 26 genetically linked cases are present in eight Michigan counties including seven at Michigan State University (Ingham County), five inmates at the Lenawee County Jail, three students at the University of Michigan (Washtenaw County), four in Macomb County, three each in Wayne, two in Kent counties, and one each in St. Clair and Oakland counties. Of the E. coli O157:H7 cases that are genetically linked, 10 have been hospitalized. These linked cases range in age from 11 to 81 years old. Symptoms of these confirmed genetically linked E. coli patients began on Sept. 8. More confirmed cases could surface as the investigation continues
The“particularly dangerous” type of E coli (0157:H7) is said to be responsible for an outbreak at Michigan State University. Ten students living on campus are sick. According to the Detroit Free Press:
Tests have confirmed that the strain of E. coli that infected at least ten Michigan State University students last week is a “particularly dangerous” type. It’s the same strain that killed several young children in the Pacific Northwest in 1993 after eating hamburgers at Jack-In-the-Box restaurants, Dr. Dean Sienko, director of the Ingham County Health Department said.
The strain was confirmed by tests this morning, as the health department and health officials at the East Lansing school sought to determine the source of the outbreak.
Still, the infection seems to have been contained. No one has sought medical treatment since Thursday, Sienko said.
Sienko told the Free Press the ten cases could, however, represent the "tip of the iceberg" as many victims of food borne illness do not seek medical treatment. For more, go here.
The wording that has been used in the Oklahoma State Health Department releases have left us
with no doubt that the number of victims in the E. coli 0111 outbreak could continue to increase. That happened on Friday, when the total number climbed to 291. We were waiting for more detail, which has yet to come out. Since its now Monday, we though we'd best pass along what was said. Here you go:
The Oklahoma State Department of Health (OSDH) said Friday, Sept. 12th that its investigation of the E. coli 0111 outbreak in northeastern Oklahoma has now confirmed at least 291 persons have become ill. Of that number, 227 were adults and 46 were children; the ages of 18 cases have not yet been identified. One person has died.
At least 67 persons have been hospitalized including 16 who have received dialysis treatment. Of that number, nine were children and seven were adults.
More than 1,700 persons have been interviewed thus far, including 228 persons on Thursday. Today is the last day the OSDH will interview persons who ate at the Country Cottage restaurant in Locust Grove, OK, Aug. 15-17. In particular, the OSDH wants to talk with families with young children who ate at the restaurant and did not become ill. Persons can call the OSDH at 1-800-990-2769 through 8 p.m. today.
The OSDH, Tulsa Health Department, and a team from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are also investigating an event catered by the Country Cottage restaurant at the Bethany Free Will Baptist Church in Broken Arrow on Aug. 16. About 250 persons attended the event and health investigators have interviewed about 160 thus far to see if they became ill after eating at the event and if so, what their symptoms were. At least 30 of those attending have indicated they became ill with diarrhea or other milder symptoms.
The laboratory analysis of food samples taken from the Country Cottage restaurant found no disease-causing pathogens, the Oklahoma State Health Department (OSHD) announced today. Earlier, no disease-causing pathogens were found in either the well water available for use at the Country Cottage nor the Locust Grove public water. Nor was anything found on the counters or other surfaces at the Country Cottage.
So, there is an unsolved mystery in Locust Grove, OK. Today's OSHD update also said:
"...its investigation of the E. coli 0111 outbreak in northeastern Oklahoma has now confirmed at least 248 persons have become ill. Of that number, 202 were adults and 46 were children. One person has died.
At least 64 persons have been hospitalized including 16 who have received dialysis treatment. Of that number, nine were children and seven were adults.
Check out the rest here.
While we wait for laboratory analysis of food samples from the Country Cottage restaurant in Locust Grove, OK, there was this update:
The Oklahoma State Department of Health (OSDH) said today at least 231 persons have become ill as the result of an E. coli 0111 outbreak in northeastern Oklahoma. Of that number, 185 were adults, 43 were children and the ages of three cases have not yet been confirmed.
At least 61 persons have been hospitalized including 16 who have received dialysis treatment. Of that number, nine were children and seven were adults.
The OSDH cautions that the number of reported cases and hospitalizations associated with the outbreak are likely to change as the investigation continues.
One man who became ill also died. For more from OSDH, go here.
Meanwhile, families with victims of the outbreak are retaining Bill Marler to represent them as reported by this Fox News report.
The largest outbreak of E. coli 0111 remains unsolved. Here's the latest from state officials:
The Oklahoma State Department of Health (OSDH) said today that analysis of environmental samples taken from the Country Cottage restaurant in Locust Grove, OK, indicated no disease-causing pathogens were found on the restaurant’s surfaces. The restaurant has been the focus of an ongoing investigation into the source of an E. coli 0111 outbreak in northeastern Oklahoma.
“We found no firm evidence of E. coli 0111 on food preparation and serving surfaces,” said State Epidemiologist Dr. Kristy Bradley. “I would caution, however, that it is very challenging to go to the scene of a food-borne illness outbreak and try to retrieve an organism from surfaces that may have been cleaned since any contamination took place.”
E. coli 0111 was identified from laboratory specimens of patients sickened by the outbreak.
Laboratory analysis of foods sampled at the restaurant is continuing.
State officials previously eliminated both well water available for use at the Country Cottage and Locust Grove public water as sources of the outbreak that has killed one 26-year old man and made more than 200 others very sick.
About 1300 people, including many Country Cottage patrons who did not get sick, have been interviewed by health officials.
Check out this headline in today's Oklahoman for more: Cause of northeast Oklahoma E. coli outbreak still sought
There is no reason now to get off the Cherokee Turnpike, northeastern Oklahoma's toll road, at Locust Grove. The Country Cottage remains closed, few want to go to any other Locust Grove restaurants, and they've even called off a high school football game.
That's what happens when you are the center of a mystery outbreak of the rare E. coli 0100. The One was a salad bar at a cheerleading camp in Texas in 1999 and the other was unpasteurized apple cider in New York in 2004. And even though the Oklahoma State Health Department (OSHD) says its safe for people to visit Locust Grove and eat in the restaurants that remain open, people are staying away and business is real slow. It's bad. Everybody's having a real rough time surviving," said Linda Shipley, who has owned Cook's Restaurant for 17 years. "We know for a fact that the people who were sick were not my customers. It's kind of crucified us because of it." For more on Locust Grove restaurants, go here. But with more than 200 sick and one dead, people are moving through Locust Grove as quickly as possible. The nearby Wagoner School District even refused to bring its team into Locust Grove for a pre-season scrimmage. "I'm responsible for those little kiddos and, here again, it being just a scrimmage, I didn't want to risk anything happening," said the Wagoner Superintendent. Meanwhile OSHD has a big weekend planned. “In our efforts to establish if there is an association with particular food items and illness, we will be interviewing more persons to find those who ate at the Country Cottage and did not become ill,” said State Epidemiologist Dr. Kristy Bradley. “In an investigation of this scope, it is as important to collect information on those who did not get sick as those who did become ill. We’ve determined that our statistical database does not adequately represent those who ate at the Country Cottage but did not become ill.” OSHD has the names of 320 people who ate at the Country Cottage but did not become ill during the critical dates of Aug. 15-17 when most of the victims did partake at the popular restaurant. These newly identified persons will be contacted this weekend to see if they can recall what food items they ate and if they got sick afterward. “This information is necessary so that we can make the distinction between what might have been a popular food choice versus a valid association with illness,” Bradley explained. The Foodborne and Diarrheal Diseases Branch of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has joined Oklahoma's investigation. Also on Saturday, Lexy Morton hopes to be able to get out of her hospital bed for her 13th birthday. She is one of the victims of the Country Cottage outbreak, and her story can be found here.
northeast Oklahoma outbreak is one of only ten, according to the Centers for Disease control. In the 10 previous similar outbreaks the source has been found in only two.
The Oklahoma State Department of Health (OSDH) reports this weekend that at least 176 persons have become ill as a result of the E. coli O111 outbreak in northeastern Oklahoma. Cases include 128 adults and 48 children. Federal and state health officials say E. coli O111 is a rare type not normally associated with an outbreak this large. OSDH disease investigators, along with staff from Tulsa Health Department and area local county health departments, have interviewed more than 450 persons in an effort to identify the source of the outbreak. Interviews continue this weekend. While the source has not yet been identified, health officials continue to focus on the Country Cottage restaurant in Locust Grove, OK, after interviews with cases indicated most had eaten there during the time period Aug. 15 through Aug. 23.
The restaurant is closed while the investigation continues. Not all persons who ate at the restaurant have become ill. No other restaurant or food service outlet in the area has been linked to the outbreak. OSDH laboratory analysis of water samples taken from a private well on the restaurant property has cleared the well water as the source of the outbreak.
Prior Outbreaks of E. coli O111:
Escherichia coli O111:H8 Outbreak Among Teenage Campers - Texas, 1999
The outbreak of a rare strain of E. coli centered east of Tulsa has now made 116 people sick, put 50 into area hospitals and taken at least one life. The Oklahoman today is reporting that well water tests at the Country Cottage restaurant are raising more questions about the source of the deadly E. coli 0111.
According to The Oklahoman story by John David Sutter:
The state Health Department says its inquiry into a deadly E. coli outbreak in northeast Oklahoma remains focused on food from a buffet restaurant in Locust Grove, even though tests of the restaurant's well water show possible bacterial contamination.
Water tests released Friday by the state Department of Environmental Quality show a private water well at the Country Cottage restaurant may be contaminated with potentially harmful bacteria. But the tests are inconclusive and "may be a very peripheral finding” in the state's overall investigation into the outbreak, state epidemiologist Kristy Bradley said.
The Country Cottage used its private and untested well water when the public supply was not available. A city water line break on or about Aug. 10th caused the restaurant to switch to its back up source. But the restaurant claims it was back on public water when most people who got sick dined there, between Aug. 15 and 17.
Using untested private well water in a public restaurant may be illegal in Oklahoma.
Can we say for sure it was the water that caused the outbreak? No, we can't. But we also can't rule it out,” said an Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality spokesman.
State officials said the public water supply undergoes regular testing and is safe, but urged other private well owners in the area to get their water tested as soon as possible.
Go here for more.
Beth Burnett at KJRH-TV 2 in Tulsa appears to be digging into that area's E. coli outbreak, finding that the ill-fated Country Cottage restaurant has a long history of negative inspections by local health authorities. The popular Locust Grove, OK restaurant racked up a staggering 88 health violations in the last four years.
Burnett also reports:
As we understand it, the Country Cottage was a buffet style restaurant, so placing "two different kinds of food too close together' would have been standard practice. For the rest of 2's story, go here.
Locust Grove, Oklahoma, population 1400, is about 50 miles east of Tulsa. A local hamburger joint called D.J.'s was made famous by local country-western star Mica Roberts. But an apparent outbreak of E. coli 0157:H7 is making another Locust Grove restaurant famous in the worst way.
The Country Cottage is at the center of an ongoing possible outbreak of E. coli 0157:H7 that is now said to be responsible for at least one death and three dozen illnesses. The name of the person who died has not yet been released. As many as 30 people suffering from symptoms of E coli are being care for at hospitals in Tulsa, Beggs, Bixby and Pryor.
The Country Cottage is also known at the Blue House to locals who frequent it.
When we have more information from Oklahoma health officials, we will be back with an update.
"Blog Release"
Bill Marler, food safety advocate and E. coli attorney, whose Seattle law firm, Marler Clark, has been contacted by victims of the E. coli outbreak traced to the S&S’s hamburger recall and outbreak that has sickened at least 80 Boy Scouts, called today on S&S to pay the medical bills and lost wages of all individuals who became ill with E. coli infections as part of the outbreak.
“We know that at least eight became ill with E. coli infections after eating S&S hamburger,” Marler said. “The cost of treating victims of E. coli infections can run in the tens of thousands of dollars, or in a severe case, even in the hundreds of thousands of dollars,” Marler continued. “These families need S&S to do more than promise to cooperate in the investigation into this outbreak. They need to know that S&S intends to fulfill its corporate responsibility by looking out for its customers.”
Marler noted that in other outbreak-situations companies such as Chi-Chi’s, Dole, Jack in the Box, Con Agra, Odwalla and Sheetz advanced medical costs for outbreak victims whose illnesses were traced to their food products.
Since the Jack in the Box E. coli outbreak in 1993, Bill Marler has represented thousands of E. coli victims against corporations such as AFG, Bauer Meats, BJ’s Wholesale Club, Byerly’s, ConAgra, Cub Foods, Dole, Emmpak, Excel, Finley School District, Fresno Meat market, Gold Coast Produce, Habaneros, Interstate Meats, Jack in the Box, Karl Ehmer, Kentucky Fried Chicken, King Garden, Kroger, Lunds, McDonalds, Odwalla, Natural Selections, Nebraska Beef, Olive Garden, Peninsula Village, Pat & Oscar’s, PM Beef Holdings, Sam’s Club, Sizzler, Spokane Produce, Sodexho, Supervalu, Taco Bell, Taco John’s, Topps, United Food Group (UFG), Walmart, Wendy’s and Whole Foos. Total recoveries on behalf of victims are in excess of $300,000,000.
Several times a month Bill, through the non-profit OutBreak, Inc., speaks to industry and government throughout the United States, Canada, China and Australia on why it is important to prevent foodborne illnesses. He is also a frequent commentator on food litigation and safety.
Tags:Lisa Crutchfield of the Times-Dispatch reported this morning that about 84 people who attended the camp at the reservation between July 20 and Aug. 2 have shown symptoms of the E. coli O157:H7 infection. Twenty-five children in Northern Virginia have been lab-confirmed with the E. coli O157H7 infection and eight Virginia Scouts have required hospitalization, said Virginia health officials. In addition, five cases of E. coli O157:H7 have been confirmed among those who returned from Goshen to Maryland.
S&S Foods of Azusa, California recalled about 153,630 pounds of frozen ground beef linked to E. coli O157:H7 infections at Goshen Scout Reservation in Rockbridge County. Health officials matched samples of beef removed from the Scout reservation to bacteria found in stool samples of some of the affected campers.
According to the CTI website, "CTI Foods is a privately held company owned by a group of foodservice industry veterans. The Company was established in July 2003 through the acquisition and merger of SSI Food Services, Inc. and S&S Foods, LLC. Since then, the Company has expanded its operations into Texas by opening two additional processing facilities. Production operations have been in place since 1986 in Idaho, 1998 in California, and 2004 in Texas."
As I said to the LA Times yesterday:
Since spring 2007, more than 19,500 tons of E. coli-tainted beef have been recalled in more than 30 separate incidents, according to Seattle attorney and food safety expert William D. Marler.The Massachusetts Department of Public Health announced Monday that it was investigating six cases of E. coli that might be linked to a multi-state outbreak involving tainted meat from Nebraska Beef of Omaha. So far, at least 50 people have been sickened.
"Nobody I've talked to has any idea why we're seeing an increase, though everybody has a different theory," Marler said. "The meat industry basically has no answers. It's pretty frustrating -- there'll be some hand-wringing, a bunch of lawsuits and nothing will be done until three months later, when it all happens again."
DC with E. coli-tainted hamburger, but apparently not.
According to press reports, Virginia Health officials confirmed today that beef taken from the Boy Scout camp in Goshen tested positive for the E. coli O157:H7 bacteria. However, Alan Lambert, the Scout Executive for the National Capital Area Scout council says the Virginia Department of Health says it may not be the only culprit in the outbreak there. He held a press conference in Bethesda, MD Monday morning. Lambert says the USDA is continuing with its investigation.
Health department officials have confirmed at least 14 boys and one adult were infected with E. coli while attending a Boy Scout camp in Rockbridge County. As many as 60 people who attended the Goshen Scout Reservation last week reported becoming ill, and the number of E. coli cases could increase as test results are analyzed, according to the Virginia Department of Health. All 14 boys were from Northern Virginia, and nine were hospitalized.
Water does not seem to be the source of the infection, said Dr. Douglas Larsen, director for Central Shenandoah Health District. The camp is part of Larsen's district. All six water wells at the camp tested negative on June 21, just prior to the outbreak, Larsen said.
Health department officials have confirmed at least 14 boys and one adult were infected with E. coli while attending a Boy Scout camp in Rockbridge County. As many as 60 people who attended the Goshen Scout Reservation last week reported becoming ill, and the number of E. coli cases could increase as test results are analyzed, according to the Virginia Department of Health. All 14 boys were from Northern Virginia, and nine were hospitalized.
Health officials in Northern Virginia are in the process of talking to those with confirmed cases about what food they ate. That could lead to some more clues, Larsen said.
Also, according to a Boy Scout press release, the Goshen Scout Reservation has been closed and will remain so until further notice. Earlier today, the National Capital Area Council (NCAC), BSA was made aware of three additional Scouts showing symptomatic signs of E. coli bacteria infection. The affected Scouts were at Goshen Scout Reservation during week 5 (July 28 - August 2).
where at least six people are sick and beef is the suspected source of the illness.The Massachusetts cases range in age from three to 60 years. They include residents of Middlesex, Suffolk and Essex counties. They reported becoming ill between July 10 and 16. At least five of the cases were hospitalized.According to the CDC, 54 confirmed cases have been linked both epidemiologically and by molecular fingerprinting to the Nebraska Beef outbreak. The number of cases in each state is as follows: Georgia (4), Indiana (3), Kentucky (1), Michigan (22), New York (1), Ohio (21), Utah (1) and West Virginia (1). Their illnesses began between May 27 and July 1, 2008. 28 persons have been hospitalized. One patient developed a type of kidney failure called hemolytic-uremic syndrome (HUS). No deaths have been reported.
These cases may be linked to 20 other cases in several states and Quebec that were caused by the same strain of E. coli.
The Massachusetts cases were linked by DNA testing and by comparing those results to results from others around the country through a federal foodborne illness surveillance program called PulseNet.
I must admit I was a Boy Scout – many years ago. I too went to scout camp, but never became ill – certainly not with E. coli O157:H7. Now at least 18 people have fallen ill with E. coli O157:H7 infections after visiting a Scout camp in Virginia.
According to the Washington Post, the Virginia Department of Health was notified of several cases involving ill children after boys from dozens of Scout troops left the Goshen Scout Reservation outside of Lexington, Virginia. An additional 60 people who returned from the camp have experienced symptoms that may be from E. coli O157:H7 infections. Christopher Novak, a Health Department epidemiologist, said the E. coli O157:H7 might have come from packaged meals of vegetables and beef eaten frequently at the camp.
To those reporters reading my blog, a few questions to ask the Virginia Health Department, the USDA/FSIS and the CDC (assuming the vegetable and beef meals are a common food item eaten):
1. What is the Pulsed Field Gel Electrophoresis pattern (genetic fingerprint) of E. coli O157:H7 bacteria taken from the ill scouts’ stools?
2. Does that genetic fingerprint match any other ill people in the United States?
3. Does that genetic fingerprint match any recently recalled meat?
It will be interesting to see if poisoning Boy Scout just outside the D.C. Beltway gets Congresses attention?
“The number of lab-confirmed E. coli cases associated with the Colquitt County outbreak remains at eight, with four presumed cases,” Grant said. “That number has not changed. The lab-confirmed cases are undergoing additional testing to determine whether they also match the multi-state case definition. Testing results are expected later this week.”
State departments of health and agriculture in several states, collaborating local health jurisdictions, CDC, and the United States Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (USDA-FSIS) are investigating a multi-state outbreak of Escherichia coli O157:H7 infections.
States with cases of E. coli 0157:H7 infections with the outbreak strain
Based on this investigation, as of 5pm EST, July 14, 2008, 44 confirmed cases have
been linked both epidemiologically and by molecular fingerprinting to this outbreak. The number of cases in each state are as follows: Indiana (1), Kentucky (1), Michigan (20), New York (1), and Ohio (21). Their illnesses began between May 30 and June 24, 2008.
Twenty-one ill persons have been hospitalized. One patient has developed a type of kidney failure called hemolytic-uremic syndrome (HUS). No deaths linked to the outbreak have yet been reported. Twenty-five (57 percent) patients are female. Patients range in age from 4 to 78 years with a median age of 20 years.
CDC and public health agencies across the United States are continuing surveillance activities to detect additional cases related to this outbreak. CDC and state laboratories are using advanced molecular testing techniques to help determine the extent of this outbreak.
State health and agriculture departments tested ground beef recovered from several patient residences that was purchased at Kroger® retail stores in Michigan and Ohio. Molecular fingerprinting testing conducted by the Ohio and Michigan Departments of Health and Agriculture Laboratories, in collaboration with PulseNet, the national molecular subtyping network for foodborne disease surveillance, on E. coli O157 isolates isolated from these ground beef samples have confirmed the isolates to be the outbreak strain of E. coli O157.
CDC's OutbreakNet Team conducted a multi-state case-control study in collaboration with health authorities in Ohio and Michigan to epidemiologically examine exposures that would be related to illness. The data indicate a significant association between illness and eating ground beef purchased at one of several Kroger® Company stores in Michigan and Ohio. CDC has provided these results to the USDA-FSIS and public health agencies in Michigan and Ohio.
On June 25, 2008, a recall was announced for ground beef sold at Kroger® Co. Stores in Michigan and Ohio. On July 3, the Kroger® Co. expanded the June 25th recall to include ground beef products from Kroger® establishments outside of Michigan and Ohio.
On June 30, 2008, a recall of 531,707 pounds of ground beef components from Nebraska Beef Ltd. was announced. On July 3, 2008, Nebraska Beef Ltd. expanded the June 30 recall to include all beef manufacturing trimmings and other products intended for use in raw ground beef produced between May 16 and June 26, 2008, totaling approximately 5.3 million pounds.
More information about these recalls can be found at the United States Department of Agriculture, Food Safety and Inspection Service’s (USDA/FSIS) web site at http://www.fsis.usda.gov/Fsis_Recalls/.
FSIS has confirmed that none of the affected products remain available for purchase at stores; however consumers are urged to check their refrigerators and freezers and discard or return the ground beef products for a refund. Consumers with questions about the recall should contact the Kroger Consumer Hotline at (800) 632-6900 or James Timmerman, Nebraska Beef Ltd. Vice President of Administration at (402) 397-7300.For more, go here.
The Barbecue Pit, the restaurant that closed voluntarily July 3 at Southwest Georgia Public Health District’s request, remained closed Monday as disease investigators announced the tally of E. coli patients has climbed to eight confirmed and four presumed cases.“Although the number of patients being seen at Colquitt Regional Medical Center has slowed down, people are still seeking treatment and in some cases being admitted with bloody diarrhea and other symptoms,” Southwest Georgia Public Health District Health Director Jacqueline Grant said. “To ensure there is no ongoing risk to the public, we are asking the restaurant to remain closed while we continue our investigation.”
Disease investigators learned Friday a sample from one of the confirmed cases was a match to the Escherichia coli (E. coli) 0157 bacteria strain behind disease outbreaks in Michigan and Ohio. Those illnesses were linked to ground beef. Results of samples taken from the Barbecue Pit on Friday may be available Tuesday, Grant said.Go here for more.
The Moultrie Observer reported on the link between ill people in Ohio and Michigan to at least nine in Georgia – “E. coli: Ground beef may be culprit.” The common denominator here is Nebraska Beef Ltd. (Remember, the guys who sue a church). Here is the key:
“A specimen sample from one of the patients resulted in a match to the same strain of E. coli bacteria in disease outbreaks in Michigan and Ohio, and those illnesses are linked to ground beef. “The National Centers of Disease Control and Prevention and state epidemiologists agree that ground beef may be a source of the infection in Colquitt County.” Nebraska Beef has recalled 5,300,000 pounds of meat.Ground beef is used in some of the dishes served in the Barbecue Pit, a Moultrie restaurant that has voluntarily closed as disease investigators attempt to find the source of E. coli O157:H7 contamination. A common thread among patients with confirmed cases of the disease is that they ate at the restaurant.
The tally of confirmed E. coli cases has now climbed to six, with three more cases still considered probable. The three “probable” E. coli patients have hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS). Laura Hall Bannister of Moultrie was one of the first ill reported. Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (D+HUS) is a severe, life-threatening complication that occurs in about 10% of those infected with E. coli O157:H7 or other Shiga toxin (Stx) producing E. coli. D+HUS was first described in 1955, but was not known to be secondary to E. coli infections until 1982. It is now recognized as the most common cause of acute kidney failure in infants and young children. Adolescents and adults are also susceptible, as are the elderly who often succumb to the disease. We are now involved with at least three suits against Nebraska Beef:
Kroger E coli Outbreak Litigation
An outbreak of E. coli O157:H7 in June, 2008 was traced to Kroger stores in Ohio and Michigan. Kroger began a voluntary recall of certain ground beef products on June 25. On June 26, it was revealed that the meat was supplied by Nebraska Beef. Marler Clark filed the first lawsuit stemming from the outbreak on behalf of an Ohio resident on June 30, 2008.
Nebraska Beef E. coli Litigation
In 2006, meat manufactured by Nebraska Beef, distributed by Interstate Meat, and sold by Tabaka’s Supervalu was identified as the source of an E. coli outbreak among residents of and visitors to Longville, Minnesota. An outbreak investigation conducted by the Minnesota Department of Health and Minnesota Department of Agriculture led to the conclusion that 17 people who had eaten ground beef purchased at Tabaka’s Supervalu and consumed either in private homes or at a dinner prepared at the Salem Lutheran Church in Longville had become ill with E. coli infections. Three people developed hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), and one person died.
And, several E. coli cases in Georgia:
Bauer Meat E. coli Litigation – Georgia
"It's on ground beef products in a Styrofoam tray with clear cellophane over it," Kroger spokeswoman Meghan Glynn said this morning. "It could have been purchased in cases or over the service counter.Gee, we are glad someone is coming clean. Kroger expanded its recall to include:
A spokesman for Kroger Stores in Ohio tonight is confirming one of their outlets sold meat that the Ohio Health Department found contaminated with E. coli. Local health officials were notified by the Ohio Department of Health that a ground-beef sample submitted by the Franklin County Board of Health has tested positive for E. coli.
That announcement was made Tuesday afternoon.
The testing was conducted by the Ohio Department of Agriculture Laboratory. Further DNA testing is currently pending at the Ohio Department of Health Laboratory to determine if there is a match to the human cases in Ohio.The NBC 4 story can be found here.
Three cases were reported by the Columbus Health Department, while the Franklin County Board of Health reported a fourth case involving a 14-year-old girl.
The Columbus Health Department and Franklin County Board of Health were in contact with the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention to see if the pattern was similar to any others in the country.
The cases were called an outbreak because at least three of the seven cases of E. coli were genetically linked through DNA testing.Go here for more on this developing outbreak.
A 55-year-old Delaware County woman who was hospitalized for three days with an E. coli infection. She is now at home and being interviewed about where and what she ate before coming down with E. coli.
the intersection of a couple of highways. Still, it's experiencing an unusual share of food-borne illnesses.Since May 15, three children who attend Wonder World have been confirmed positive for a harmful strain of E. coli bacteria, a Minnesota Department of Health news release said. One child has been hospitalized with symptoms consistent with hemolytic uremic syndrome, a severe complication of the infection that affects the kidneys. About 13 other children have shown symptoms of illness and are being tested for E. coli, the release said.The state health department said the bacteria seem to have spread from child to child, instead of coming from a source at the preschool. Farm animals might be involved. For more, go here.
King 5 TV just reported that the Washington State Department of Health announced that nine confirmed cases of E. coli O157:H7 infection found in north Thurston and south Pierce counties (appears to be college students - food service) have been traced to bagged, commercial romaine lettuce.
Health officials say it's not the same type of lettuce you would buy in a grocery store. The Health Department says four cases of E. coli O157:H7 infection were identified in Thurston County, and six in Pierce County. Some of the people infected were hospitalized. The people who got sick all had salad or lettuce at different places, which means all of those places probably got their lettuce from a single source.You can read the complete version of E. coli Infections in Washington Traced to Restaurant Romaine Lettuce by going here.
Tyson Fresh Meats, Inc., (EST. 245L), sold chubs of 85 percent lean, 15 percent fat coarse ground beef to Sherm’s Food-4-Less retail establishment in Medford, OR who then processed this ground beef into various sized packages of ground beef products and sold to consumers between May 7 and 19.
FSIS is issuing a public health alert rather than a recall because FSIS has confirmed that none of the affected products remain available for sale at this retail establishment. Consumers that may have purchased various sized packages of ground beef products at this retail establishment between May 7 and May 19 are urged to check their refrigerators and freezers and discard or return the ground beef products for a refund.
The problem was discovered after a microbiological test for E. coli O157:H7 was reported positive by another recipient of the product subject to this alert. FSIS has received no reports of illnesses associated with consumption of this product. Anyone with signs or symptoms of food-borne illness should consult a medical professional.Gee, recalls are not used if products have been sold? We are not sure we follow that reasoning.
Omaha's Midlands News Service is reporting on a private party in March that went bad, giving many of the guests a bad bout of E. coli. Site of the gathering was Sarpy County, which makes up the southern edge of Omaha's metro area. Midlands' Michael O'Connor reports:
State health officials are continuing to investigate an E. coli outbreak in Sarpy County that sickened 14 people -- including a 7-year-old -- and sent four people to the hospital.
Dr. Tom Safranek, state epidemiologist, said the outbreak was caused by roast beef served at a reception hall in Sarpy County for a private gathering on March 26. The meat was prepared at a person's home and brought to the event, he said.
He declined to say specifically where the meal was served or what the gathering was for.
The people affected ranged in age from 7 to 73. The four people who were hospitalized were released several weeks ago, he said.All of the people affected suffered abdominal cramping, diarrhea and in some cases bloody diarrhea, Safranek said.
Safranek said he believes the E. coli problem was contained to the roast beef served at the Sarpy County gathering. He said there currently is no evidence that people who have purchased or eaten roast beef in Nebraska are at risk.
The Midlands News Service story can be found here.
Texas health officials are investigating an E. coli outbreak that has already resulted in one death, apparently caused by a Shiga toxin carried by bacteria.
E. coli O157:H7 and other bacteria contain Shiga toxins, and can cause severe illness, including hemolytic uremic syndrome. The chain of events leading to HUS begins with ingestion of Shiga toxin producing E. coli or another Shiga toxin producing bacteria in contaminated food, beverages or through person to person transmission.
We wish we could say that a story today by The Courier-Journal makes us feel warm and fuzzy. Its about the soon-to-be forthcoming report from the State of Indiana on the last fall's E. coli outbreak at the Galena Elementary School in Floyd County.
The Louisville, KY newspaper says:
Indiana health officials have concluded that the E. coli outbreak in Floyd County last fall resulted in 15 confirmed or probable cases and that it likely began with one child who had environmental contact with the bacteria.
The Galena Elementary School outbreak was unusual because so many of the cases resulted in serious kidney damages. If as reported, Indiana health officials are going to put the outbreak on one unknown child, it will be disappointing.
The Courier Journal says:
According to the findings in the state report, one Galena Elementary School student—which one could not be determined—inadvertently brought the infection into the Floyds Knobs school, perhaps after contact with a cow or goat.
Those animals are reservoirs for the bacteria but don’t display symptoms of the illness. The E. coli was then spread by contact within the school or with siblings of infected students
The Courier Journal is relying upon Tom Harris, Floyd County health officer, for the tip that the report will be made public soon. The story can be found here.
William Tudor, the butcher jailed for food safety violations, after the meat he supplied schools in the United Kingdom killed young Mason Jones will not be testifying in the public inquiry now being held.
The death of Mason Jones and the illnesses of 118 confirmed cases of E. coli O17:H7, including 31 children who were sent to hospitals, is all connected to Butchers John Tudor and Son in Bridgend, which had the contract to supply cooked meat to the schools service in late 2005.
Tudor and Son was identified as the probable source and inspections found dangerous found hygiene practices, leading to cross contamination between raw and cooked meats, through which the E.coli O157 had been spread.
Tudor went to jail in September 2007 and won't be required to testify.
Marler Clark filed two E. coli lawsuits against Organic Pastures on February 7, 2008. The lawsuits were filed in Fresno County Superior Court on behalf of two children who developed hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) secondary to E. coli O157:H7 infection after consuming Organic Pastures raw milk. 
Marti Davis of the Knoxville News Sentinel spoke with the McDonald family, whose two children became ill with E. coli infections last fall after eating Cargill ground beef patties.
Preschoolers John and Michaela McDonald shared a burger that led to a prolonged stay in intensive care and cost 4-year-old John part of his bowel and colon. The frozen hamburgers at Sam's Club near their West Knoxville home a few days before the patties were recalled.
Surgery to bypass John's digestive tract was reversed in December, and both children are well for now.
Only Jim McDonald, the children's father, has eaten ground beef since his children's illness. The rest of the family has not reintroduced ground beef into their diet.
The McDonald family, who is represented by Marler Clark, filed a lawsuit against Cargill last year, but has withdrawn the lawsuit in the hopes that Cargill will compensate the children for injuries they sustained through mediation instead of a jury trial.
Since last Saturday night when the federal Food Safety & Inspection Service went public with the recall of 188,000 pounds of ground beef from the Minnesota-based Rochester Meat Co., not much has happened.
Well, the profile of the California victim became known. It was reported this way in the local San Diego media:
A local teen's illness has been linked to a national beef recall.
The 17-year-old girl was not hospitalized and has since recovered.
But her case has health officials worried that others could become
sick, as well.
E. coli fears have led a Minnesota meat packer to recall nearly
200,000 pounds of ground beef patties.
The company ships its products to distributors around the country for
use in restaurants and other food service operations.
The recalled beef was not sold directly to consumers.
No, it was sold to restaurants, including perhaps just one national chain, who then sold it to consumers.
Yesterday, food safety attorney Bill Marler went on the attack over the lack of information on this recall coming from the impacted states and federal officials. From Marler:
Public health officials in Washington DC, California and Wisconsin are playing a dangerous game with American consumers by refusing to reveal the specific stores or restaurants that may have served meat contaminated by toxic E. coli, says the Seattle lawyer who represents victims of food-borne illness.
'The public needs to know who may have poisoned their kids,' said Bill Marler, managing partner of the Marler Clark law firm in Seattle.
Marler spoke up Sunday after health officials revealed that 188,000 pounds of ground beef was being recalled by the Rochester Meat Company, a Minnesota firm, because it has been contaminated with E. coli O157:H7. This appears to be the first major recall of 2008. 2007 set a recent record for recalls - topping twenty recalls of over 33 million pounds of meat.
While announcing the nationwide recall, officials have refused to reveal the name of the restaurant or other outlets believed to have served the meat to consumers. That, Marler says, means that consumers who may be at risk of contracting potentially fatal food-poisoning have no way of knowing – until they get sick.
He called on Dr. Richard A. Raymond, head of Federal Food Safety & Inspection Service (FSIS), Kevin R. Hayden, secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Health and Family Services, and Dr. Mark Horton, director of the California Department of Public Health, to immediately disclose the names and locations of retail outlets that have been associated with the contaminated meat.
The Federal Food Safety & Inspection Service (FSIS) persuaded Rochester Meat Company to issue the recall after investigations revealed that at least six people have been sickened in Wisconsin and California.
'We are hearing from the environmental health community that a national chain restaurant, or restaurants are connected with this recall,' Marler said. 'If so, these public officials are playing a very dangerous game. They are betting that nobody else gets sick because they had no way of knowing they were at risk.'
Marler said there are indications that state officials know of one or more restaurants where contaminated meat has been served and where consumers already have been sickened. 'The public has a right to know the name of that establishment and its involved locations, ' said Marler. ' If more than one is involved, the public has a right to know that too.'
Well said Mr. Marler! Maybe someone in the national media will light a fire under these agencies that are suppose to operate in the public interest.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is issuing a public health alert due to illnesses from Salmonella Newport associated with fresh ground beef products contaminated with multi-drug resistant Salmonella that may have been ground and sold at Safeway supermarkets in Arizona, California, Hawaii, Nevada and New Mexico between Sept. 19 and Nov. 5, 2007.
This public health alert was initiated after epidemiological investigations and a case control study conducted by the California Department of Public Health, Arizona Department of Health Services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, determined that there is an association between the fresh ground beef products and 38 illnesses reported in Arizona (16), California (18), Idaho (1) and Nevada (3). The illnesses were linked through the epidemiological investigation by their rare PFGE pattern found in PulseNet, a database maintained by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
American Foods Group of Green Bay, Wisconsin, has recalled over 95,000 pounds of ground beef products for E. coli contamination after the Illinois Department of Health confirmed consumers in that state had become ill with E. coli infections after eating AFG ground beef products.
American Foods Group of Green Bay, Wisconsin, has recalled over 95,000 pounds of ground beef products for E. coli contamination after the Illinois Department of Health confirmed consumers in that state had become ill with E. coli infections after eating AFG ground beef products.
The Tennessee State Department of Health and CDC are collaborating with public health officials in multiple states and the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service to investigate an ongoing multistate outbreak of E. coli O157:H7 infections.
Frozen pizza that contained pepperoni and was produced by the General Mills company under the brand names of Totino's or Jeno's was the likely source of the illness.
As of November 1st, at least 21 confirmed cases of E. coli O157:H7 have been collected. At least 8 people have been hospitalized, and 4 have developed a type of kidney failure known as hemolytic-uremic syndrome.
General Mills announced on November 1, 2007, that the company was recalling its Totino’s Crisp Crust Party pizzas and Jeno’s Crisp ‘N Tasty pizzas for possible E. coli O157:H7 contamination. The recall was initiated after over 20 people became ill with E. coli infections after eating the pizzas.Dr. Patricia Quinlisk of the Iowa Department of Public Health said Tuesday that either a person in western Iowa contracted a strain of E. coli that matches the DNA "fingerprint" of the E. coli bacterium involved in a national frozen pizza recall, or the person's history involves consumption of the tainted product.
The bacterium in the recall is blamed for sickening 23 people in 12 other states, including bordering states South Dakota, Nebraska, Missouri, Illinois and Wisconsin.
Quinlisk said the department has investigated three cases. Two did not match the strain found in the pepperoni in Totino's and Jeno's pizzas, but one case is still under investigation.
"We're still waiting for some further information," Quinlisk said Tuesday. "We don't know it's definitely here. Two (cases) were proved not to be here."
Ground beef patties produced by Topps Meat Company that were recalled for possible E. coli contamination in September are still on store shelves.
Over the past few weeks, 141 boxes of Topps burgers have been found at 12 stores, all in northern New Jersey except for one in Gloucester City in Camden County, according to the state Division of Consumer Affairs.
At least six people in New York had become ill with E. coli infections after eating Topps Meats' ground beef, and the investigation into these illnesses by the New York Department of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) was what led to the resulting recall.
Topps Meat Company of Elizabeth, New Jersey, recalled 21.7 million pounds of frozen ground beef products that may have been contaminated with E. coli O157:H7. The CDC announced that 38 confirmed illnesses had been tied to the outbreak in 9 states: Connecticut, Florida, Indiana, Maine, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, and Pennsylvania.
Aubrey Anderson, a five-year-old from Sterling, Kansas, has been hospitalized with hemolytic uremic syndrome, secondary to E. coli infection. Doctors believe she could remain hospitalized for 3-6 weeks.
Public health officials have not yet been able to determine the source of Aubrey's illness, unlike in the case of Courtney Hansen, an eight-year-old from Ellsworth, Wisconsin, who was recently released from the hospital after a five-week stay while she was treated for HUS.
In Courtney's case, the Pierce County Herald reported that she and her younger twin sisters all became ill with E. coli infections after eating wind-fall apples.
Benefits are being planned to raise money for medical expenses.
Marler Clark has filed a lawsuit on behalf of Knoxville, Tennessee, residents Jim and Georgia McDonald and their two children, who both became ill with E. coli O157:H7 infections and were hospitalized after eating hamburgers made from Cargill ground beef patties.
Four-year-old John McDonald was seen in the emergency room, where he was treated for dehydration and released. The next day, he was taken by ambulance to East Tennessee Children’s Hospital, and was admitted. While hospitalized, John developed hemolytic uremic syndrome, pancreatitis, compromised liver function, and bowel necrosis.
He was later transferred to the University of Tennessee Medical Center for dialysis, and on October 16th underwent surgery to have part of his bowel removed. After nearly a month’s hospitalization, John was discharged from the hospital, but has not yet fully recovered from his E. coli infection and the following complications.
One-year-old Michaela McDonald fell ill with symptoms of E. coli infection about a day after John, and was treated for dehydration at the emergency room. Michaela was then admitted to East Tennessee Children’s Hospital. When her brother was transferred to the University of Tennessee Medical Center, Michaela was also transferred. She remained hospitalized for over a week.
Since mid-2007, 33,000,000 pounds of hamburger has been recalled, according to the Des Moines Register. There have been hundreds of illnesses and several reported deaths.
There were six cases of E. coli reported in Polk County in October, according to the Polk County Health Department, which officials said is a typical number.
During the month, a 16-month-old girl and a 17-month-old boy who attended the same Urbandale child care center were infected with E. coli. In July, the Iowa Department of Public Health issued a warning after three children developed illnesses linked to a rare strain of E. coli. The children, all 5 years and younger, were not hospitalized. Two of the three children visited private and municipal pools before getting sick, health department officials said at the time.
At least 21 people have become ill with E. coli O157:H7 infections after eating Totino's or Jeno's brand pizzas produced by General Mills.
The victims of this most recent E. coli outbreak are from Kentucky, Missouri, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, Virginia, and Wisconsin.
A USDA press release warns consumers who have Totino's or Jeno's brand pizzas in their freezers that were produced before October 30, 2007, should not consume the pizzas.
Meat recalled a month ago that could be contaminated with E. coli was found in seven northern New Jersey stores, state consumer safety officials said Tuesday.
Inspectors in the past week have seized 138 boxes of frozen hamburgers made by Topps Meat Co., which issued a nationwide recall on Sept. 29 for 21.7 million pounds of frozen patties.
Four of the stores, all in Jersey City, were located after a distributor was subpoenaed by the state Division of Consumer Affairs and provided shop names and locations. Inspectors found the other three while visiting nearly 200 stores in Hudson County
State authorities have not determined when the meat was delivered to the stores.
The USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service has announced that in a joint investigation between the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and FSIS, investigators had determined that Ranchers Beef, a Canadian company, had supplied E. coli-contaminated beef trimmings to Topps.
The agency also announced that Ranchers Beef, Ltd., has been "delisted" since October 20, meaning the company has not been eligible to export meat to the United States since that date.
Topps has expanded an earlier recall to include 21.7 million pounds of ground beef products for possible E. coli contamination. The recall was initiated after illnesses associated with the products were reported in New York, Pennsylvania, and several other states. As of October 26, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had identified 40 illnesses under investigation as being part of the outbreak.
Sidney Jacobi, a 6-year-old child who is part of the E. coli outbreak among Galena Elementary School students, is home from the hospital.
Sidney sustained the most serious injures of any child hospitalized during the outbreak, suffering hemolytic uremic syndrome, which caused kidney failure. Although Sidney is still recovering, high blood pressure is still a concern.
Follow-up treatment for victims of E. coli and hemolytic uremic syndrome is very important, and all persons who have experienced HUS should be formally evaluated by a nephrologist at a year following their acute illness.
A lawsuit seeking punitive damages was filed today against Topps, the New Jersey beef supplier that recalled nearly a year's supply of frozen ground beef patties after its products were identified as the source of an E. coli outbreak in September.
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Keith and Kristin Goodwin and their 8-year-old son, Lucas, by Seattle-based Marler Clark and Rochester-based Underberg & Kessler.
The lawsuit states that Topps had knowledge of consumer illness tied to its products and a positive E. coli sample from its ground beef patties no later than September 8th, seven days before Kristin and Lucas Goodwin ate Topps hamburgers.
Kristin was released from the hospital on September 26th, but Lucas developed hemolytic uremic syndrome and remained hospitalized for eight days. While they were hospitalized, Topps recalled 332,000 pounds of ground beef products. The company later expanded the recall to include 21.7 million pounds of ground beef.
E. coli cases have sprung up across the nation in recent weeks. Some of these cases have been traced back to the millions of pounds of ground beef that have been recalled by Cargill and Topps, but in other cases a source has not been identified.
Of recent news reported:
Seattle attorney William Marler called today on Cargill to front medical costs for victims of an E. coli outbreak traced to the company's frozen ground beef patties. Victims of the outbreak include families of children who have been hospitalized in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Tennessee, and North Carolina.
“Without assistance in the form of monetary compensation for medical expenses and lost wages, many of the families with members in the hospital will face financial hardship in the coming months when the bills start coming in,” said Marler, who filed a lawsuit against Cargill on behalf of a Minnesota family yesterday. “Cargill should do the right thing and begin compensating victims of this outbreak for those most basic needs now. Of course, Cargill will still be responsible for the costs of long-term medical care for victims, but it is better to step up now.”
Three students from Wisconsin and two North Carolina children were added to the number of E. coli illnesses caused by consumption of E. coli-contaminated ground beef patties produced by Cargill and sold by Sam's Club today.
The Wisconsin students all ate hamburgers served at a cookout before a soccer game on campus. The North Carolina children had both attended a cookout where hamburgers were served.
Sam's Club has pulled more than 840,000 pounds of patties nationwide.
An E. coli outbreak among children who attend Galena Elementary School may not have come from a source inside or close to the school.
DNA test results have shown a link between the strain of the E. coli in the Galena cases with an isolated case reported outside the county in August.
“This finding suggests that outbreak strain may have been circulating in the community or the environment prior to the outbreak,” says Dr. Tom Harris, Floyd County health officer. “Some cases do not attend Galena Elementary School nor reside in Floyd County.”
State and county health officials would not identify the location of the isolated case.
Marler Clark client Emily McDonald's mom Catherine is thankful that doctors did not treat her daughter with antibiotics without knowing whether she was suffering from E. coli or not. The administration of antibiotics is believed to be a potential contributing factor to children developing hemolytic uremic syndrome.
Antibiotics and painkillers can slow the expulsion of the bacteria from the body and cause more complications, said Josh Schaffzin, the state Department of Health's medical director of the regional epidemiology program.
Emily has been able to start school with her third-grade classmates at St. Pius X School in Loudonville. She's returned to her soccer team and is starting saxophone lessons.
Topps Meat Company, LLC, of Elizabeth, N.J., has voluntarily expanded its Sept. 25 recall to include a total of approximately 21.7 million pounds of frozen ground beef products because they may be contaminated with E. coli O157:H7.
The Minnesota Department of Health have announced that ground beef patties purchased from Sam's Club stores in Minnesota have been identified as the source of an E. coli outbreak.
Hamburger patties purchased from Sam's Club stores in Eagan, Maple Grove and White Bear Lake have been implicated as the cause of 4 cases of E. coli infection.
All four cases were children. Two of the cases developed hemolytic uremic syndrome and were hospitalized. One case has been discharged and one remains hospitalized.
The brand name of the implicated frozen ground beef patties was “American Chef’s Selection Angus Beef Patties.”
Topps Meat Company, the company whose ground beef products were identified as the source of an E. coli outbreak and recalled over 21 million pounds of ground beef in recent weeks, closed today. It is closing its business six days after it was forced to issue the second-largest beef recall in U.S. history and 67 years after it first opened its doors.
USDA officials also acknowledged that the recall could have been announced much faster, admitting that a positive E. coli sample from Topps brand meat was identified weeks before the recall was announced.
Topps began recalling frozen hamburger patties that may have been contaminated with the E. coli bacteria strain O157:H7. The recall eventually ballooned to 21.7 million pounds of ground beef.
Topps Chief Operating Officer Anthony D'Urso, told the Jeff Gold of the Associated Press that a few employees will remain at the processing facility to help USDA scientists investigate the source of the E. coli outbreak, but that the company would not reopen.
Thirty people in eight states had E. coli infections matching the strain found in the Topps patties, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported. None have died. The decision will cost 87 people their jobs.
The Chicago Tribune reports that the USDA knew of a positive E. coli test from a meat sample and a human sample over two weeks before a recall was initiated in regards to Topps Meat Company.
Amanda Eamich, a USDA spokeswoman, said that the USDA's recall committee first met on Sept. 25 to consider the Topps case, 18 days after E. coli was confirmed in a Topps hamburger, according to Robertson's e-mail, which was provided to the Tribune.
The committee, comprised of department officials, concluded then that it should request a Class I recall of the Topps meat. Class I is the USDA's most serious recall class. It means that there is "a reasonable probability that eating the food will cause health problems or death."
The number of E. coli infections tied to Galena Elementary School in Floyd County, Indiana, has risen to ten.
Among the ten sickened, seven have been hospitalized with hemolytic uremic syndrome in Louisville, Kentucky. Three of the cases are not students.
Seven children have been hospitalized for E. coli infections, but Kosair Children's Hospital says federal privacy laws prohibited him from identifying them or describing their conditions, reports the Indianapolis Star.
A lawsuit has been filed against Topps Meat Company, the meat producer whose ground beef products have been identified as the source of an E. coli O157:H7 outbreak, and who expanded a ground beef recall to include 21.7 million pounds of meat over the weekend.
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Albany County, New York, residents Robert and Catherine McDonald and their young daughter, who became ill with an E. coli O157:H7 infection and was hospitalized after eating a hamburger made of Topps Meats ground beef
The Oregonian today reported on an E. coli outbreak at the Clackamas County Fair in August. According to the story, the Clackamas fair board will put up more signs regarding hand washing for next year's fair.
Health investigators said today the outbreak spread to one additional person but is now contained. E. coli infections can cause diarrhea, stomach cramps and kidney failure. Those who became sick in August have recovered or are recovering.


This year's outbreak is larger than the one from the Clackamas County Fair in 2006, when the bacteria infected four people, sending one to the hospital, said William Keene, an epidemiologist for the Oregon Public Health Division.
A Topps Meats, of Elizabeth, New Jersey press release reported that at least 21 people in eight states could be part of an E. coli outbreak that has been traced back to consumption of ground beef products produced by their company. The CDC has confirmed three cases linked to Topps, and is waiting on lab testing for confirmation of an additional 18 cases, according to the Associated Press.
Health officials found contaminated burgers in one New York victim's home freezer. The boxes recalled carry the number "Est. 9748" inside the USDA mark and were produced on June 22, July 12 or July 23.


The recalled products include certain 10-pound boxes of Butcher's Best 100% All Beef Patties; certain 10-pound boxes of Kohler Foods burgers; certain 10-pound boxes of Sand Castle Fine Meat; some 2-pound boxes of Topps 100% Pure Ground Beef Hamburgers; and some 3-pound boxes of Topps 100% Pure Ground Beef Hamburgers.
The United States Department of Agriculture announced yesterday that Topps is recalling 331,582 pounds of frozen ground beef. The recall was announced after an E. coli O157:H7 outbreak investigation identified Topps ground beef products as the source of an E. coli outbreak.
According to the Albany Times/Union, the E. coli outbreak was discovered by the New York Department of Agriculture, which was investigating several E. coli cases among New York residents.
Information about the recall, supplied by the USDA, is as follows: Each package also bears the establishment number “Est. 9748” inside the USDA mark of inspection.


The frozen ground beef products were produced on June 22, July 12 or July 23 and were distributed to food service institutions in the New York metropolitan area and to retail establishments nationwide.

An investigation into a cluster of illnesses in the Northeast region carried out by the New York State Department of Health in coordination with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention led to a positive product sample collected by the New York Department of Health.


In August, 2005, an eight-year-old Albany, New York girl became ill with an E. coli O157:H7 infection after eating a hamburger purchased from Price Chopper. The ground beef used in the hamburger had been supplied to Price Chopper by Topps Meats.
A six-year-old first grade student at Galena Elementary School in Indiana has been hospitalized with kidney failure after she developed hemolytic uremic syndrome following an E. coli infection, according to WLKY news.
The child is one of six students at the school who have been confirmed as suffering E. coli infections, with five cases unconfirmed but possibly linked to the outbreak. The state health department has joined the outbreak investigation, and is sending three additional investigators to help determine the source of the outbreak. The school has been thoroughly cleaned but parents are still concerned about the safety of their kids.


State Health Officials said they are sending three more specialists to Floyd County to help track down the source of an E. coli infection. Two food specialists and a second epidemiologist are scheduled to inspect the school Tuesday.
The Maine Centers for Disease Control is investigating six cases of E. coli infection, and is working to determine the source of a potential outbreak, according to a story posted on the Bangor Daily News website. Four of the six cases in Kennebec, Androscoggin, Lincoln and Franklin counties have been confirmed positive for Shiga toxin-producing E. coli O157:H7 by the Health and Environmental Testing Laboratory, state epidemiologist Dr. Kathleen F. Gensheimer confirmed Friday.
Two other cases are pending and one other suspected case is under investigation, according to the health advisory issued by the CDC. Those afflicted, including one who was hospitalized, had bloody diarrhea, one of the common symptoms.

Gensheimer said Friday that two of the three cases are unrelated, a fact revealed through genetic testing. No place, event or food has been identified as a link in the investigation, she said.
Elsewhere, an E. coli outbreak has been traced to a restaurant, according to WAND TV.com. The El Rancherito restaurant in Effingham, Illinois, has been identified as the source of an E. coli outbreak that has resulted in at least six confirmed cases of E. coli O157:H7 among customers who ate at the El Rancherito restaurant in Effingham between September 11th and September 13th.
The health department says it has six confirmed cases of E. coli 0157. They are all linked to eating at El Rancherito restaurant in Effingham at I-57 and I-70. The health department says the restaurant is cooperating and has been closed since Thursday.

The people affected ate there between September 11th and the 13th. Their illnesses started between the 14th and 17th. There is no word on their conditions.
An investigation into two E. coli-infected students from Galena Elementary School in Indiana is ongoing. The News and Tribune reported that a second has been hospitalized with similar symptoms, school officials confirmed Friday afternoon.

“We don’t know the details, but we can say that the health department is investigating one confirmed and one suspected of E. coli,” said Bill Briscoe, assistant superintendent of operations and administration for the New Albany-Floyd County Consolidated School Corp.

Both students, who were not identified, were hospitalized on Thursday. The Floyd County Department of Health confirmed in a news release at least one case of E. coli on Friday morning and said it suspected the other, but didn’t reveal further details.
USA Today featured a detailed timeline of last year's spinach outbreak - from the first death to the discovery that spinach was the source of the outbreak to the fifth death and how the spinach industry and federal investigators and regulators responded during the crises and beyond.
Marler Clark client Jillian Kohl stated in the article: "By the time I am 40 to 45 years old, I could be laying in a bed hooked up to dialysis machines again. I know death is inevitable, but sometimes it feels like quite a load to carry, knowing a rough timeline has potentially been put on my life."
Yesterday, an Idaho woman was added to the list of people who became ill with E. coli O157:H7 infections after eating ground beef produced by a Clackamas, Oregon meat producer and consumers were warned to check their freezers for potentially contaminated ground beef products. Illnesses associated with the outbreak have been reported in Idaho, Oregon, and Washington.
This morning, Alex Pulaski of the Oregonian reported that a Bend, Oregon, resident helped Oregon health officials determine the source of her E. coli illness and establish a link to the Washington and Idaho cases.
Amber Wark, one of the family members who had fallen ill, discovered a telling clue Saturday morning while taking it on herself to rummage through a dozen garbage bags in a trailer bed: packaging for 4 pounds of ground beef.
The wrappers led state epidemiologists, federal agricultural inspectors and Washington health authorities back to Interstate Meat Distributors Inc. in Clackamas, which had ground the meat that Wark bought July 29 at Safeway.
The Food Safety and Inspection Service announced today that Interstate Meat Dist., Inc., of Clackamas, Oregon, was recalling 41,305 pounds of ground beef products for potential E. coli O157:H7 contamination. The recall was announced after at least eight people in Oregon and Washington became ill with E. coli infections after eating the ground beef products.
This public health alert was initiated after epidemiological investigations conducted by the State of Oregon Department of Health Services and the Washington State Department of Health determined that there is a possible link between the ground beef products and eight confirmed E. coli O157:H7 illnesses reported in Oregon and Washington.
The products subject to this public health alert include:
WAFF reported this morning that one of the victims of an E. coli outbreak traced back to Little Rosie's Mexican restaurant in Huntsville, Alabama, has died. The victim, whose name was not released, became ill with an E. coli infection in July, and developed hemolytic uremic syndrome, a complication of E. coli infection.
The woman was one of the first to develop the E. coli bacteria in her bloodstream in July, and had spent the last several weeks in the hospital.
The family says the bacteria acted at least as a catalyst in their loved one's death. She passed away Wednesday morning.
The only common denominator among the cases health department officials could find was shredded lettuce served at Little Rosie's, a Mexican restaurant in Huntsville.
Health officials have not yet released information on whether they were able to identify a specific food served at Little Rosie's that was the source of the E. coli outbreak.
Health officials in Colorado are investigating an E. coli outbreak among children in Eagle County. Several cases have been confirmed in children under 5. The county is focusing on swimming pools and child-care centers in its investigation.
In the summer of 1998, 26 children became ill from E. coli O157:H7 contracted while playing in the kiddie pool at White Water Park, a commercial water park in suburban Atlanta. Seven of those children were hospitalized and a 2-year-old boy died from hemolytic uremic syndrome, a kidney disorder caused by E. coli O157:H7.
In August of 2000, the Kindercare facility located on Lexington Drive in Folsom, California, was traced as the source of an E. coli O157:H7 outbreak. Health department officials who investigated the outbreak determined that the probable “index case” – a child who unknowingly brought the bacteria into the facility – experienced “explosive diarrhea at the daycare on the afternoon of 8-3-00.”
Tomorrow marks one year since E. coli-contaminated spinach was harvested from a field in California's Salinas Valley. One month from today will mark a year from the date US health officials - the Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control - confirmed that that spinach was the source of a nationwide E. coli outbreak, and announced that all bagged spinach products were being recalled for possible E. coli contamination.
Earthbound Farms, which is the largest producer of gourmet salad greens, hired food safety microbiologist Mansour Samadpour to set up a testing lab just days after the outbreak was traced to the company's products. Dr. Samadpour instituted a testing regimen that is the most aggressive in the leafy greens industry. All products are now checked for pathogens when they arrive at the processing plant and when they are through processing.
Today, Hawaiian health officials announced that an E. coli outbreak in March has been traced to lettuce grown on Kaua'i.
All eight people were most likely infected by eating contaminated lettuce from a Kaua'i farm, where heavy rains and flooding had carried E. coli bacteria from a cattle pasture onto the lettuce patch.
Officials declined to name the farm they suspect was the source of the lettuce.
The state Department of Health said that the eight victims, including the four who required hospital care, have recovered without complications from the outbreak of a strain of E. coli O157, whose symptoms include abdominal cramps and bloody diarrhea and which in severe cases can cause kidney failure.
An article for the Huntsville Times gave an account of the homecoming of Samuel Coggin, a five-year-old boy who became ill with an E. coli O157:H7 infection and hemolytic uremic syndrome after eating at Little Rosie's restaurant in Huntsville.
Samuel spent about three weeks on dialysis after the dangerous E. coli O157:H7 bacteria caused his kidneys to fail, a condition called hemolytic uremic syndrome.
Nineteen people became ill with E. coli infections after eating at Little Rosie's Taqueria inn July. Three people were hospitalized, including Samuel. The other to people who developed HUS remain hospitalized. One is in serious condition at Huntsville Hospital, and the other is hospitalized at Memorial Mission Hospital in Asheville, North Carolina.
Health officials say the Huntsville outbreak most likely was caused by contaminated lettuce served at Little Rosie's between June 27 and June 30. Eighteen of the 19 known victims ate at the popular Mexican restaurant on Whitesburg Drive on those dates; the other infected person did not eat at Little Rosie's and caught the bacteria another way.
Three Little Rosie's customers have been in the hospital since about July 4 undergoing dialysis for kidney damage.
Several reports indicate that 7 people who became ill with E. coli infections earlier this summer were infected after eating contaminated ground beef.
All seven patients, including an 8-year-old North Carolina girl who was hospitalized after her kidneys shut down, are recovering, Dr. Humayun J. Chaudhry, the Suffolk County health commissioner, said Tuesday.
Chaudhry stressed that no specific brand of ground beef has been identified; it was purchased at various locations around Long Island. He also said the majority of those who became ill between June 9 and July 3 were believed to have eaten the beef products at local barbecues and not at restaurants.
He said federal and local health officials are continuing to investigate, but early findings suggest the E. coli contamination is not specific to Suffolk.
Seven people in Suffolk County were sickened in recent weeks after eating undercooked ground beef contaminated with E. coli bacteria, county health officials said Monday.
In one case, an 8-year-old North Carolina girl was hospitalized for about two weeks when her kidneys shut down, said Dr. Patricia Dillon, director of communicable diseases for Suffolk's health department. The girl, who was visiting friends and family here, was recently released from the hospital, Dillon said. Officials said the meat was of different brands and was purchased at several supermarkets and grocery stores. Test results showed that the bacteria strain in three of Suffolk's cases matched cases reported in Minnesota, California and Michigan. "Preliminary findings suggest the E. coli O157:H7 contamination is not specific to Suffolk, but it is part of a larger national food supply concern," health officials said in a news release.
Interestingly, Abbott's Meat Inc., a Flint, Michigan, establishment, recalled approximately 26,669 pounds of ground beef products because they may be contaminated with E. coli O157:H7 in the last few days according to FSIS. I posted yesterday on the increasing number of E. coli cases tied to red meat that we have been seeing over the last few months.
In what is now the largest E. coli outbreak in Alabama in 20 years, 18 people who ate at Little Rosie's restaurant in Huntsville, Alabama, have been confirmed as suffering from E. coli O157:H7 infections, and testing is being conducted to determine whether there are additional victims of the outbreak.
The Huntsville Times reports that two people remain hospitalized with hemolytic uremic syndrome, and a third hospitalized E. coli victim's status was not available.
The newest confirmed victims are a 65-year-old man and a 43-year-old woman. Neither got sick enough to need hospital care.
Although state and county health officials point to shredded lettuce as the most likely culprit, Bill Marler, a Seattle lawyer who specializes in foodborne illness cases, said he suspects that the outbreak ultimately will be tied to ground beef.
An E. coli outbreak in Huntsville, Alabama, that has sickened numerous customers of Little Rosie's and has sent at least three people to the hospital with hemolytic uremic syndrome, was caused by contaminated lettuce, according to the Madison County Health Department. The Huntsville Times reports that health officials have not determined when the lettuce became contaminated - if it was before or after it entered the restaurant, but they are looking into the possibility that the lettuce was cross-contaminated before it was served.
Five-year-old Samuel Coggin of Meridianville started dialysis Wednesday morning at Vanderbilt Children's Hospital in Nashville. Two adults whose names have not been released are also hospitalized with kidney problems: a 48-year-old woman in critical condition at Huntsville Hospital and a 70-year-old woman undergoing dialysis in Asheville, N.C.
Dr. Debra Williams, the Huntsville-Madison County Health Department's assistant director, said 16 people who ate at Little Rosie's Taqueria late last month have now tested positive for E. coli O157:H7 poisoning. A 17th E. coli victim did not eat at the Whitesburg Drive restaurant and was sickened by a different source, she said.
Three more restaurant customers who were hospitalized with symptoms of E. coli exposure have tested negative, Williams said.
E. coli O157:H7 outbreaks associated with lettuce or spinach, specifically "pre-washed" and "ready-to-eat" varieties, are by no means a new phenomenon.
In October 2003, thirteen residents of a California retirement home were sickened, and two people died, after eating E. coli-contaminated, pre-washed spinach; in September 2003, nearly forty patrons of a California restaurant chain fell ill after eating salads prepared with bagged, pre-washed lettuce. In July 2002, over fifty young women fell ill with E. coli O157:H7 at a dance camp after eating “pre-washed” lettuce, leaving several hospitalized and one with life-long kidney damage.
Twenty or more E. coli O157:H7 outbreaks since 1995 have spinach or lettuce was the source. Several more outbreaks linked to contaminated leafy-produce, including most recently the September 2005 Dole packaged lettuce outbreak.
Once the investigation was completed, a final report on the outbreak was prepared by the California Food Emergency Response Team (CalFERT), a team comprised of members from the FDA and the California Department of Health Services. The Final Report is replete with facts damning of all those involved in the growing, harvesting, processing, distribution, and sale of the implicated spinach products.
The Final Report also faulted with NSF’s procedures for monitoring the quality of processing-water, its record-keeping, and its inability to demonstrate that harvesting bins were being washed to prevent cross-contamination.
The Buffalo Trace District Health Department has confirmed three cases of E. coli poisoning in the area.
According to Tim Stump, director of the district health department, the three individuals reside in Bracken and Fleming counties but were all diagnosed at Meadowview Regional Medical Center. All three individuals are juveniles, Stump said, and two are believed to be still hospitalized.
There have been reports of as many as seven cases of E. coli poisoning, but Stump said he is only aware of, and has only confirmed, the three.
Three Eastern Iowa children have recovered from a rare strain of E. coli, health officials said Monday.
Kevin Teale, spokesman for the Iowa Department of Public Health, said the three were not hospitalized from the strain, called enterohemorrhagic E. coli O26. He would not identify where the children - all age 5 or under - live in Eastern Iowa. All were in the same county.
Possible sources of infection, including splash pads, wading pools and contact with farm kittens, were identified in two cases, but no link was established with the third case. Teale said two of the children had visited both private and municipal pools.
Lab work performed at University Hygienic Laboratory found that all three strains matched, he said.
Federal prosecutors have decided against charging companies involved in the September 2006 E. coli outbreak traced to contaminated spinach.
Following the outbreak, which led to the deaths of three people and sickened about 200 others, FBI agents raided two produce processing plants and several farms for evidence of environmental and food-safety violations. The investigation did not find that growers or processors had deliberately skirted the law or were negligent in preventing tainted foods from entering the marketplace, said U.S. Attorney Scott Schools.
Authorities had searched plants in October run by Growers Express LLC in Salinas and Natural Selection Foods LLC in San Juan Bautista, as well as farms in Santa Clara, Monterey and San Benito counties.
The outbreak last August and September caused 205 illnesses in 26 states and killed two elderly women and a toddler. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated that about 4,000 people were sickened by the spinach, taking into account that relatively few cases typically are reported.
The companies involved in the spinach E. coli outbreak still face civil litigation.
The Captain's Galley restaurant in China Grove, N.C. is closed indefinitely after a recent E. coli outbreak that health officials believe is probably connected to a slaughtered goat.
Cable News 14 from Charlotte, North Carolina reported on the bizarre practice of allowing employees to slaughter a goat in a restaurant.
An 86-year-old woman died last week after suffering from complications from an E. coli infection and many more people can become sick. Now residents are reacting to the disturbing happening at the popular restaurant.
Seattle-based Marler Clark law firm struck back in a lawsuit filed suit yesterday alleging negligence against meat producer PM Beef and retailer Lund Food Holdings.
According to Minnesota Lawyer, Anne Herwig was one of seven Minnesotans infected with E. coli bacteria this spring, leading PM Beef to voluntarily recall 117,500 pounds of beef trim products.
The lawsuit in Hennepin County District Court seeks undisclosed damages for Herwig's pain and suffering, medical expenses and emotional distress. The bug can cause severe stomach cramps and bloody diarrhea, with complications leading to kidney failure.
A woman infected with E. coli has died in a Rowan County hospital.
Rowan Regional Medical Center officials say 86-year-old Faye Sides died yesterday of multiple organ failure related to the infection. Sides was 1 of 20 people who ate at a restaurant in China Grove and became ill about three weeks ago.
The first lawsuit stemming from an E. coli O157:H7 outbreak traced to ground beef produced by United Food Group, Inc. was filed yesterday in Riverside County Superior Court, in California.
The lawsuit was filed against UFG by Seattle-based Marler Clark and San Diego-based Gordon and Holmes on behalf of Lawrence Fournier and Cynthia Centura of Hemet, California, whose four-year-old daughter, Lauren, became ill with an E. coli infection and was hospitalized with hemolytic uremic syndrome, a severe, life-threatening complication of E. coli infection that can lead to kidney failure, after eating UFG ground beef.
“The meat industry has made significant progress in preventing E. coli outbreaks traced to meat products in the last five years,” said William Marler, who has dedicated his law practice to representing victims of foodborne illness outbreaks since representing over 100 victims of the 1993 Jack in the Box E. coli outbreak. “One has to ask, ‘Who dropped the ball at UFG?’”
On June 3, 2007, UFG recalled 75,000 pounds of ground beef due to potential E. coli O157:H7 contamination. After additional testing and more reported illnesses, UFG expanded the recall on June 6 to include 370,000 pounds of ground beef. By June 9, UFG had again expanded its recall to include a total of approximately 5.7 million pounds of both fresh and frozen ground beef products.
The California Department of Health Services, the Colorado Department of Health, and the CDC reported 14 illnesses associated with the outbreak – 6 in Arizona, 3 in California, 2 in Colorado, 1 in Idaho, 1 in Utah, and 1 in Wyoming.
The Rowan County Health Department has eight confirmed cases of E. coli and is tracking seven potential cases, reports the Independent Tribune.
Health Director Leonard Wood said calls about illness from the bacteria have decreased. “We’re beginning to see a slowdown in calls,” Wood said. “We don’t know the final number, but things have slowed down.”
The latest case was confirmed on Tuesday, Cabarrus Health Director Fred Pilkington said. Last week, Rowan and Cabarrus health officials began an investigation when residents complained of E. coli-like symptoms. The investigation led officials to Captain’s Galley Seafood Restaurant in China Grove.
The latest technology allowed scientists at the Colorado Department of Health and Environment to link a pair of illnesses in Denver to the same E. coli pathogen sickening several people in California.
The Colorado scientists used an international computer database called PulseNet, created by officials who track illnesses.
"We then saw 11 cases with the same DNA fingerprint in five states," said Jim Beebe, Colorado's chief microbiologist.
"By using information shared worldwide, we can identify outbreaks that once were only viewed as isolated events," Beebe said.
Once Colorado made the link and the source was identified, the USDA announced on June 3 that United had issued a 75,000- pound recall of ground beef processed at its plant on April 20. It later expanded the recall to 5 million pounds of ground beef.
The Health Department says that tests have confirmed that E. coli outbreak has come from cooked meat at "The Grill" at the Meat Market in Northwest Fresno.
Tests on leftovers have confirmed a viral strain of E. coli was present in that meat. The same strain was found in at least 11 of the victims.
The Grill is voluntarily recalling the cooked tri-tip meat.
The Health Department is not clear on how the contamination occurred. Their investigation is still underway. However, they say the meat could have come to the Meat Market contaminated from the packing house, perhaps it wasn't cooked enough or the contamination could have happened during contamination after it was cooked.
Health officials in Rowan and Cabarrus counties in North Carolina are investigating an outbreak of E. coli that could be linked to the Captain's Galley Seafood Restaurant in China Grove.
As of Thursday morning, there were four confirmed cases of the intestinal illness, and another nine patients are considered to likely have the disease. Even more are still under investigation.
A lawsuit will be filed today against PM Beef Holdings, LLC and Lund Food Holdings, Inc., the producer and retailer who sold E. coli-contaminated ground beef traced to an outbreak of E. coli O157:H7 illnesses in Minnesota and Wisconsin residents in April, 2007.
The plaintiff in the lawsuit is Anne Herwig, a Minneapolis resident who became ill with an E. coli O157:H7 infection and was hospitalized after eating contaminated ground beef in April. Ms. Herwig is represented by Marler Clark. Ms. Herwig is one of seven Minnesotans who were confirmed as part of the E. coli outbreak that prompted PM Beef Holdings to recall 117,500 pounds of beef trim products that was ground and sold at Lunds and Byerly’s stores.
An E. coli outbreak in China Grove, North Carolina, has sickened at least four people, with another nine people possibly infected as well.
It was discovered after several people showed up at Northeast Medical Center in Concord, complaining about similar symptoms over the past few days. It's believed to be the first outbreak of it's kind in Rowan County.
The health department says it appears all the people ate at one restaurant. "So far the common denominator has been the fact that these folks had eaten at Captain's Galley," said Leonard Woods, director of the Rowan County Health Department.
Lab tests have confirmed four cases of E. coli so far, and another nine cases are considered probable and are awaiting lab tests.
Officials say many of the sick people ate at the Captain’s Galley Restaurant prior to becoming ill.
The North Carolina Division of Public Health is conducting an investigation into the outbreak along with Rowan and Cabbarus County health departments.
The ongoing recall of potentially E. coli-contaminated ground beef products produced by United Food Group has affected numerous stores nationwide.
The ground beed was carried by Albertson's, Basha's, Grocery Outlet, Fry's, "R" Ranch Markets, Sam's Club, Save-A-Lot, Save-Mart, Scolari's Wholesale Markets, Smart and Final, Smith's, Stater Bros. and Superior Warehouse Club supermarkets.
The meat was produced in Vernon, California, on April 13 and sold under the brand names of Moran's All Natural, Miller Meat Company, Stater Bros., Inter-American Products Inc., and Basha's.
Sam's Clubs in California, Arizona and Nevada were the only stores belonging to that chain stocked with the recalled product.
Four cases of E. coli infections have been identified by Arizona health officials as possibly linked to beef that a California meatpacking company recalled Monday.
The beef was processed by United Food Group LLC of Vernon, Ca. and shipped to retail distribution centers in Arizona, California, Colorado, Oregon and Utah. It was sold at Albertsons, Save-A-Lot, Grocery Outlet, Fry's, Save-Mart, Smart and Final, Smith's, and Stater Bros. stores.
The California State Senate became the first legislative body in the nation to recognize the unique risk posed by leafy greens when it approved Senate bills that enact food safety reforms.
Senate Bill 200 gives the Department of Health Services the authority to recall or destroy produce which may pose a threat to the public. The measure also creates an inspection program to proactively address the threat of outbreaks. DHS inspectors would have the authority to conduct periodic on-farm inspections, including testing of water, soil and produce.
Senate Bill 201 mandates Good Agricultural Practices for leafy green growers, covering everything from water and fertilizer use, to worker hygiene, to the creation of buffer zones between fields and potential contamination sources. Growers would be required to maintain extensive documentation of these practices. These documents would be reviewed by DHS to ensure compliance.
SB 202 calls for the creation of a traceback system that can quickly trace contaminated produce through the various stages of the distribution process, from farm to processor, to distributor, to retailer. In the most recent E. coli outbreaks, lettuce and spinach producers nationwide took a major economic hit, because it could not immediately be determined where the infected produce came from and every farm was suspect. The ability to quickly find the specific source in an outbreak, combined with DHS’ ability to destroy suspect produce, will prevent a similar industry-wide hit in future E. coli outbreaks.
In early August 2006, public health officials in Weber County, Utah, became aware of several people who attended a teachers' conference luncheon and had contracted E. coli O121:H19 infections.
On August 2, 2006, the Weber-Morgan Health Department issued a News Release indicating that three people had been infected with E. coli O121:H19, and that two of the individuals had developed HUS. WMHD stated that the evidence indicated that all three people contracted E. coli from the same source sometime during June 27-30 at a restaurant in the Ogden, Utah area. By August 7, WMHD officials had revised the number of outbreak victims to four, including three who had developed HUS.
WMHD concluded that the source of the infection was contaminated iceberg lettuce prepared at a Wendy’s Restaurant in North Ogden, Utah.
Eventually, WMHD determined that at least 69 people had become ill in the outbreak. Of those, four remained hospitalized and were in serious condition.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have announced that the incidence of E. coli O157:H7 infection traced to ground beef products had significantly declined. CDC attributed the decline to the implementation of a new set of recommendations from the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service in 2002 and the beef industry's subsequent enhancement of food safety systems, including testing and control measures.
It is true that since 2002, there has been a general decline in the number of E. coli cases traced to red meat, and an increase in the number of E. coli cases traced to fresh produce, namely bagged lettuce and spinach. But in the last weeks E. coli outbreaks traced to beef products have underscored the importance of continued efforts to protect the public from E. coli in meat.
Four cases of E. coli infections have been identified by Arizona health officials as possibly linked to beef that a California meat packing company recalled Monday.
Of the four cases, the Arizona Department of Health Services says two people required hospital treatment but have recovered. The beef was processed by United Food Group of Vernon, California, and shipped to retail distribution centers in Arizona, California, Colorado, Oregon and Utah.
One Utahn became ill after eating hamburger meat contaminated with the E. coli bacteria, the state Department of Health reported on Tuesday. The victim was treated and has recovered, said department spokesperson Charla Haley, adding that no other cases are being investigated at this time. Supervalu Inc. has recalled ground beef sold under the Moran label in its Albertsons' stores in Utah, California, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, North Dakota, Oregon, Washington and Wyoming.
California Company recalls 75,000 pounds of beef - twelve sickened
Fresno County health investigators said 15 E. coli cases from a recent outbreak had been confirmed as of Friday afternoon, reports the Fresno Bee.
One man has been hospitalized with hemolytic uremic syndrome, a kidney complication from the bacterial infection, said David Luchini, communicable disease division manager for the Fresno County Department of Community Health.
Most of the cases appear to be related to three private gatherings -- two graduation parties and a wedding. But health workers are still investigating illnesses that might be related to other events.
The number of confirmed cases linked to an E. coli outbreak in the Fresno area has increased by three to 11, according to an article in the Fresno Bee.
Samples are still being tested and additional positive results may be confirmed in the coming days, said Tim Casagrande, director of Fresno County's environmental health services department.
Health officials are focusing on determining which food item served at three separate parties could have been the source. Early reports indicated that beef tri-tips from the Meat Market was served at all three events.
Health officials have identified two additional people who tested positive for E. coli and may be part of the recent outbreak traced to private gatherings held in the Fresno area.
Investigators are tracking down everyone who attended three private parties where tainted food might have been served.
Officials need to know what the people ate for breakfast, lunch and dinner for the past week, said David Luchini, division manager of communicable diseases for the Fresno County Community Health Department. He did not have an estimate on how long the interviews would take.
E. coli O157:H7 can cause a complication known as hemolytic uremic syndrome, or HUS. HUS occurs in 5-10 percent of E. coli patients, and can cause damage to the kidneys, brain, pancreas, and central nervous system.
KFSN-TV reported that health officials are investigating 20 reported E. coli cases - 16 from the same source - in an outbreak that apparently began after two graduation parties on May 19.
Food from the same Fresno market was served at both graduation parties.
A number of food sources are under scrutiny, but the parties were catered by the same company, said Tim Casagrande, the county's director of environmental health.
Health workers are talking to people in attendance at two other parties held on the same day to determine if more people have become ill.
The Fresno County Health Department and Fresno County Environmental Health are looking into whether the Meat Market is the source of the E. coli outbreak that has sickened as many as 20 people so far.
The grill at the popular Meat Market in north Fresno was shut down for about an hour while county health inspectors checked the facility. Tim Casagrande, Fresno County Environmental Health says, "Our staff's gonna be looking at essentially food handling, critical points, temperatures."
An E. coli outbreak may be ongoing in Montgomery and Fulton Counties in New York.
The State Health Department has confirmed that three children have tested positive for E. coli, and one has been hospitalized. Two of the children attend the same daycare, but officials are not releasing the name of that facility yet, according to WTEN TV.
It is not known how the third child became ill, but health officials say they are performing tests on some of the children attending the daycare program.
During summer months, exposure at pools and water parks has been linked to outbreaks of E. coli, Cryptosporidium, and other bacteria, parasites, and viruses. Recently, several children became ill with E. coli infections after attending a back yard water slide party near Bakersfield, California. In 2004, thousands of people became ill with Cryptosporidiosis after exposure to Cryptosporidium at the Seneca Lake Spraypark near Geneva, New York, and in 1998 dozens of children became ill with E. coli O157:H7 infections, including seven children who were hospitalized and one child who died, after playing in a kiddie pool at the White Water waterpark near Atlanta, Georgia.
Minnesota state health and agriculture officials are investigating seven cases of E. coli O157:H7 infection in residents associated with eating ground beef purchased from Lunds or Byerly's stores.
The cases include two children and five adults. Three of the cases were hospitalized, but all have been discharged. Marler Clark has been contacted by victims of this outbreak.
According to the Minnesota Department of Health, “The stores currently involved include Byerly’s St. Louis Park, Byerly’s Minnetonka, Byerly’s Chanhassen and Lunds Edina. However, we can’t be certain that meat from other stores is not involved, since all of the beef used for ground beef for Lunds and Byerly’s stores comes from a single processing facility,” said Heidi Kassenborg, Acting Director of the Dairy and Food Inspection Division of the Minnesota Department of Agriculture.
Ground beef that was purchased after April 7 from a Lunds or Byerly’s store, whether still in the refrigerator or freezer, should not be used, but should be discarded or returned to the store, officials said.
The Kern County Health Department issued a press release today stating that the investigation into an E. coli outbreak among several Bakersfield, California-area resident had been traced.
Early speculation about the source of the outbreak indicated that health officials were investigating potential exposure to the E. coli bacterium at a restaurant; however, the press release shows that health officials have pinpointed the exposure as happening at a water slide event.
One child is still hospitalized in fair condition, according to an article from the Bakersfield Californian.
PM Beef Holdings expanded an E. coli recall to include 117,500 pounds of beef trimmings to make ground beef yesterday. The original recall was initiated after an E. coli outbreak among Byerly's and Lunds customers in the Minneapolis area who had consumed ground beef products from the stores.
According to the St. Paul Pioneer Press, the recall comes after an E. coli outbreak that has sickened seven Twin Cities residents, who purchased and ate ground beef from either of the two stores. While those stores have already removed any potentially contaminated beef from their shelves, today's move greatly expands the scope of the recall.
The beef trimmings in question were processed on March 27 at the PM Beef Holdings plant in Windom, and the USDA said it was shipped to distributors and retail outlets in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, Michigan, Arizona, Ohio and Virginia.
California health officials continue their investigation into an E. coli outbreak that has sickened at least a dozen people in the Bakersfield, California, area.
A common thread is a restaurant in Bakersfield, but the Kern County Health Department will not reveal its location. Health officials continued to say there is no immediate threat to the public and that is why the health department will not officially name the pizzeria.
Two of the hospitalized children have been released, and two developed hemolytic-uremic syndrome -- a condition marked by kidney failure and seen in serious foodborne illnesses -- and were transferred to hospitals outside Kern County.
In a Minnesota Department of Health press release, "E. coli O157:H7 cases linked to ground beef purchased at Lunds or Byerly’s stores since mid-April," Heidi Kassenborg, Acting Director of the Dairy and Food Inspection Division of the Minnesota Department of Agriculture stated, "[W]e can't be certain that meat from other stores is not involved, since all of the beef used for ground beef for Lunds and Beverly's stores comes from a single procesing facility."The meat was sold under a store label at the Edina Lunds, and Byerly's stores in Minnetonka, Chanhassen and St. Louis Park, according to the health department.
Five adults and two children were among those sickened. Three were treated at area hospitals. The infections were reported between April 21 and April 28, according to the health department.
State health officials added that any ground beef purchased at the stores since April 7 should be thrown out or returned to the store.
As a precautionary measure, Lunds and Byerly’s have voluntarily removed many varieties of ground beef from all of their stores and are cooperating fully with the investigation.
Lunds and Byerly’s customers are urged to return or destroy fresh ground beef purchased at any of their stores since April 7, 2007. This includes ground beef purchased fresh then frozen at home. It includes fresh beef patties, fresh or frozen meatloaf and ground chili meat. Customers should return the ground beef to any Lunds or Byerly’s immediately for a full refund. (A receipt is not required.)
[S]ix kindergardners are sick, some of them hospitalized with the sometimes fatal disease.HUS develops when the toxin from E. coli bacteria, known as Shiga-like toxin (SLT) [1,2], enters the circulation by binding to special receptors. These Shiga-toxin receptors, known as Gb3 receptors [1], are probably heterogeneously distributed in the major body organs allowing disparate thrombotic (blood clotting) impacts in different HUS victims, although the greatest receptor concentration appears to be in the kidneys, especially in children. As the inflammatory reaction process accelerates, red blood cells are destroyed and cellular debris aggregates within the microvasculature while the body’s inherent clot breaking mechanisms are disrupted. The result is formation of microthrombi within particularly susceptible organs such as the kidneys and brain. Because there exists no way to halt the progression of HUS, doctors are left to support the HUS victim while the acute process runs its course.
An eighth student is a 10-year-old relative of of one of the kindergarders.
Some organs appear more susceptible than others to the damage caused by these toxins, possibly due to the presence of increased numbers of toxin-receptors. These organs include the kidney, pancreas, and brain. An animated video of how E. coli attaches to the intestinal wall and releases shiga-toxins, causing infection, is available at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute Web site. [1] Recent research suggests that E. coli O157:H7 acquired its pathological character when a bacteriophage (virus that infects bacteria) transmitted genetic material for the creation of the toxin from a closely related Shigella bacterial species (hence the epithet, Shiga-like toxin) to a formerly benign species of E. coli.
[2] Verotoxin-globotriaosyl ceramide binding receptors.
Hoss's, a restaurant chain that operates restaurants in Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia, has changed meat suppliers after an E. coli outbreak was traced to one of its restaurants, according to an article posted at Lancaster Farming. Health officials are still investigating the outbreak, but believe it was caused by consumption of mechanically tenderized steaks purchased at Hoss's restaurant.
Five people ate E. coli tainted steaks at four Hoss’s locations in Centre, Dauphin, Venango, and York counties between March 24 and 29. Each person was infected with a potentially deadly strain of E. coli, the same strain that killed three people and hospitalized hundreds last summer as a result of consuming E. coli-tainted spinach.
The department states each person ate a different cut of steak, but the fact they got it at Hoss’s is the only common link. Four of the five people were hospitalized with symptoms of E. coli, which include severe bloody diarrhea.
Hoss’s stated it would be eliminating three practices it has used to tenderize and flavor its steaks before they arrive at a restaurant: blade tenderization, vacuum marination and marinade injection.
The health permit of a Lake Forest eatery linked to an E. coli infection outbreak, which affected 14 customers and one employee, has been reinstated, reports KCAL Santa Ana.
The Foothill Ranch restaurant voluntarily closed on April 6, after reports that several people who ate at the restaurant reported getting sick, including two children who were hospitalized.
Despite an ongoing investigation, the source of the E. coli O157:H7 infections has not been identified, said Howard Sutter of the Orange County Health Care Agency. He said the permit was reinstated after the restaurant completed four requirements:
According to the Orange County Department of Health and multiple news sources, a 15th E. coli O157:H7 case has been confirmed in Southern California resulting from the person eating at the contaminated Orange County restaurant.
For more information on Marler Clark, visit www.marlerclark.com. For more information on our not for profit food safety consulting work, see www.outbreakinc.com.
The Associated Press reported that two more cases of E. coli infection linked to a restaurant have been identified, forcing the Orange County eatery to temporarily close for business.
The new cases brought the number of people sickened by the dangerous bacterium to 12. The first 10 people who tested positive for E. coli had eaten at the Foothill Ranch restaurant in Lake Forest. Tests confirmed that an 11th person, a juvenile who had eaten at the restaurant was also infected, said Orange County Health Care Agency spokesman Howard Sutter. Tests also showed an employee who did not report any symptoms or illness also had contracted E. coli O157:H7.
Meanwhile, a 12-year-old girl hospitalized with an E. coli infection was in good condition Saturday after being transferred out of intensive care and into a general care ward at Children's Hospital of Orange County, said Denise Almazan, hospital spokeswoman
"We still have not identified the source of these infections and we cannot draw any conclusions about the possible source from the latest developments," said county health officer Eric Handler. "Our interviews with employees have shown that they also eat meals at the restaurant and an employee could have become infected in the same manner as others who ate at the restaurant."
The findings prompted the restaurant to voluntarily close so all its employees could be tested. The new cases also led the Health Care Agency to suspend the restaurant's health permit. The serve-yourself salad-buffet restaurant stayed open after the first several cases because health inspectors initially concluded its food and conditions were safe.
Earla Marshall and Amy Champion met at Pittsburgh Children's Hospital while their sons were undergoing treatment for E. coli O157:H7 infections. The two mothers determined that both sons had eaten at the Ellwood Moose Lodge gun auction and wild game dinner on the same day, and believe the boys became ill with symptoms of E. coli infection after the meal.
According to the New Castle News, the mothers began researching what they believed to be an outbreak. Marshall and Champion busied themselves trying to find other people who had attended the dinner, which Marshall said featured such meat as elk, moose, duck, bear and deer.
“We discovered six other people who had gotten ill and were diagnosed with E. coli,” Marshall said, noting that between 200 and 300 people attended the event. She added that leftovers from the dinner were given to the Franklin Township Volunteer Fire Department, and that some of the firefighters there fell ill as well.
Three more cases of E. coli were identified among customers of an Orange County restaurant, bringing the number of people sickened to 10, reports the Associated Press. Interviews with all 10 people confirmed they ate at a restaurant in the city of Lake Forest on March 23 or 24, the Orange County Health Agency said in a statement.
"We have not yet identified the source of the infections, and our investigation is continuing," the agency said.
The latest cases were confirmed a day after health officials announced that tests showed the first seven cases all had the same strain of E. coli in common, indicating a common source of infection. One of the earlier cases, a 12-year-old girl, remains in intensive care at Children's Hospital of Orange County, said county health information officer Deanne Thompson.
The restaurant has remained open. Health inspectors concluded its food and conditions were safe.
The Orange County Health Care Agency's on-going investigation of reported E. coli O157:H7 cases has identified a restaurant at which all currently known cases have reported eating.
Interviews with each of the seven currently known cases have determined they all ate at the Foothill Ranch restaurant in Lake Forest, California.
The continuing investigation will attempt to identify food items that may be implicated. “Staff from the restaurant and corporate office have been completely cooperative with our on-going investigation of this foodborne outbreak,” said Eric G. Handler, M.D., County Health Officer.
Orange County Public Health Services announced yesterday that at least seven people had become ill with E. coli O157:H7 infections after eating at a buffet-type restaurant in Lake Forest, California. Six of the people with reported E. coli infections became ill after dining at the restaurant on March 23rd or 24th. Three of the victims have been hospitalized.
The Orange County Health Care Agency and the California Department of Health Services are investigating the outbreak, but have not yet determined which food served at the restaurant was contaminated with E. coli. According to an Associated Press report, foods served at this chain of Orange County restaurants are prepared at a central kitchen, which supplies nine restaurants. No E. coli illnesses have been reported from diners at other of the chain's restaurants in Orange County.
“More has to be done to ensure the safety of our food supply,” said attorney William Marler, who is representing 93 victims of last year’s spinach E. coli outbreak and over 4,500 victims of the Salmonella outbreak that was traced to contaminated peanut butter. “Consumer confidence has been shaken, and we need to know that the food we’re putting into our bodies, whether at home or in restaurants, is not contaminated with pathogenic bacteria that could kill us.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 73,000 cases of Escherichia coli O157:H7, or E. coli, occur annually in the United States. Every year, 2,100 Americans are hospitalized, and 61 people die as a direct result of E. coli infections and its complications.
The California Department of Health Services and the FDA have released their final report on the spinach E. coli outbreak.
Authorities for the first time said they had isolated the deadly E. coli strain on Paicines Ranch in San Benito County from a field the ranch leased to Mission Organics, a spinach grower.
They found E. coli "indistinguishable from the outbreak strain" in river water, cattle feces, and wild pig feces on the ranch within a mile a from the spinach fields, the California Department of Health Services and U.S. Food and Drug Administration said in a joint report.
Investigators also said they could not make a "definitive determination" as to how the E. coli contaminated the spinach.
The Paicines Ranch, which breeds Angus cattle and quarter horses, said in a statement on its Web site that it leases land to crop growers and was not under investigation in the outbreak.
Darryl Howard, the son of Betty Howard, a Richland, Washington, resident who died after contracting E. coli O157:H7 last September after eating California-grown spinach, will testify before the California Senate Agriculture Committee in Oakland, advocating for legislation to ensure fresh produce safety.
Mr. Howard and his two brothers will attend the hearing in support of Senate Bills 200, 201 and 202, which are sponsored by Senator Dean Florez.
“The state needs some jurisdictional teeth not just over products, but over potential E. coli sources,” said Mr. Howard. “After listening to testimony by John Dyer, CFDA’s chief counsel who helped write the agreement for the state, say, ‘Growers aren’t subject to this act, and to the agreement’ and ‘Marketing Orders and Agreements are not food safety-empowered programs,’ I knew this agreement did not go far enough and gives the public a false sense of security.” The leafy greens marketing agreement goes into effect on April 1st, to which Mr. Howard said, “It’s appropriate because it’s April Fools Day.”
Howard will submit for the record the federal testimony of Dr. Kevin Reilly, Deputy Director, Prevention Services, California Department of Health Services. Dr. Riley gave testimony on November 15, 2006 to the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. In his testimony, he stated that, “The Salinas Valley appears to have systemic E. coli O157:H7 contamination in the environment that has led to a number of fresh produce associated outbreaks over time.”
State officials say they will soon release results of an investigation into last year's deadly Salinas Valley E. coli outbreak, including naming the San Benito County farm where the tainted spinach was grown, but Senator Dean Florez says consumers can't wait any longer.
"Time is a luxury we don't have," the senator said at a legislative hearing Monday. "We cannot wait any longer to solve this problem."
The September outbreak killed three people and sickened more than 200 nationwide. State and federal officials have traced the outbreak back to a 50-acre spinach plot. The E. coli strain identified in the contaminated spinach has been found in a nearby stream and in cattle feces and in wild pigs.
But the Department of Health Services has declined Florez's request to release further details until the report is in its final version. It is still being reviewed by the federal Food and Drug Administration, which has aided in the inquiry.
"We believe it will be released in the coming weeks," said Jennifer Kent, associate secretary of legislative affairs at the state Health and Human Services Agency. She testified at the Senate Select Committee on Foodborne Illness, which Florez leads.
The results of the Salinas Valley investigation are likely to play a major role in several lawsuits filed on behalf of E. coli victims. Marler Clark, a Seattle law firm representing 90 plaintiffs alleged in a lawsuit that the tainted spinach was grown at a farm called Mission Organics.
Investigators for the FDA and CDC have indicated that the E. coli-contaminated lettuce that sickened customers at Northeast Taco Bell restaurants in November and December of 2006 came from California's Central Valley. The Taco Bell outbreak was reported just before an outbreak at Taco John's locations in the Midwest, which was also traced to lettuce grown in the Central Valley.
In an article for the Salinas Californian, Brian Tumulty reported that FDA was continuing its investigation and that a final investigation report into the Taco Bell E. coli outbreak would not be published for at least another month, while a report on last fall's E. coli outbreak traced to baby spinach will be issued before then.
Los Angeles Times reporter Jerry Hirsch wrote about Taco Bell's five percent drop in earnings in the fourth quarter of 2006, and noted that Taco Bell cited a "produce sourcing" issue as part of the reason for the drop in earnings. E. coli, according to Hirsch's article, was conspicuously absent in Yum! Brands' earnings report.
Yum provided almost no financial details about the effect on Taco Bell except to say that sales were recovering from their December low.
Overall, Yum reported a profit of $232 million, or 83 cents a share, a 3% gain from $226 million, or 77 cents, a year earlier. Sales rose 4% to $3 billion. Yum also owns the fast food chains Pizza Hut and KFC.
Before the earnings release, Yum shares rose 29 cents to $60.78. The price, near its 52-week high, was little changed in after-hours trading.
In a report Monday to investors, UBS analyst Palmer said he believed Taco Bell restaurants would bounce back to at least flat sales and might log "slightly positive" growth in April.
Yum also will collect an undetermined level of insurance payments to help offset profit lost because of the E. coli-related drop in sales, he said.
In an article for BusinessWeek.com, Bruce Schreiner wrote that Taco Bell and Yum!'s performance surprised financial analysts:
Larry Miller, a restaurant analyst with RBC Capital Markets, said the drop at the Mexican-style chain wasn't as severe as he had expected. "I think investors are going to be somewhat relieved with Taco Bell," he said in an interview. "It wasn't quite as bad as I think some of us thought it might be."
The Connecticut Post Online reports that residents at an Astoria Park nursing home have become ill with E. coli infections. Astoria Park health officials are investigating the source of the outbreak, which has sickened at least ten residents.
City Health Director Maian Evans said "other people ate the food and didn't get sick," in regards to the infection coming from contaminated food.
Authorities will try to determine whether the illness was caused by sources such as produce from outside the nursing home or food-handling problems within the facility.
In 2003, residents of a San Mateo, California, retirement facility became ill with E. coli infections after eating E. coli-contaminated spinach during the Sequoias Portola Valley E. coli outbreak. Two women died after suffering complications of their E. coli infections, and dozens of residents were sickened.
Taco Bell will report earnings for the 4th quarter of 2006 on Monday, and financial analysts are questioning whether earnings will fall short of expectations following the E. coli outbreak traced to Taco Bell restaurants in the Northeast last December.
The OC Register reports that the time of the incident, the survey by Sandelman & Associates showed that eight out of 10 people had heard of the E. coli incident. The poll included roughly 400 people, Sandelman said.
Of those who were aware of the E. coli incident, 94 percent were able to tie the outbreak to Taco Bell. "There was no confusion," said Sandelman.
The Food and Drug Administration has announced that it has moved closer to identifying the source of illness for the Taco John E. coli outbreak.
FDA and the state of California, working in conjunction with state health officials in Minnesota, Iowa, and Wisconsin, have DNA-matched the strain of E. coli O157:H7 bacteria associated with the outbreak with two environmental samples gathered from dairy farms near a lettuce growing area in California's Central Valley.
The outbreak sickened approximately 81 individuals in November and December of 2006. Illnesses were reported in Minnesota, Iowa, and Wisconsin. Twenty-six people were hospitalized, and two suffered hemolytic uremic syndrome, a serious complication of E. coli O157:H7 infection that can cause permanent kidney damage and death. No deaths have been associated with the outbreak. No new cases of illness are being reported and the outbreak is now considered over.
Epidemiological studies by Minnesota and Iowa health officials had previously identified shredded iceberg lettuce served in the restaurants as the likely vehicle of transmission in the outbreak. FDA was able to focus on specific lettuce growing regions based on the traceback from records obtained from the lettuce processor. The recent DNA match provides a clue as to one possible source of the contamination for the lettuce, although others may exist. It has yet to be determined how the E. coli contaminated the lettuce. The traceback investigation is ongoing and will hopefully yield further insight into how this contamination occurred.
Last fall, several students at the University of North Carolina became ill with E. coli O157:H7 infections after eating at McAlister's Deli. In a follow-up story on that outbreak, the Daily Tarheel reports that the Orange County Environmental Health Department's final report also showed a strong statistical likelihood that the restaurant's lettuce was the source of the infections.
Though Orange County interim environmental health director Tom Konsler said in a November interview that food-borne illnesses can strike even the cleanest restaurant, a health inspection conducted on Oct. 24 gave McAlister's a raw score of 89.
That score included deductions for improperly storing meat, improper handwashing and hygiene and improper handling of utensils.
In the last decade, lettuce and spinach grown in California's central coast region have caused at least nine outbreaks of illness associated with E. coli bacteria. Today, fresh produce outpaces even meat as a source of food-borne illness. The beef industry tightened its safety practices after Jack In the Box burgers contaminated with E. coli killed four children in 1993, but with vegetables, regulators and growers are still catching up.
As health officials have urged Americans to eat more green, leafy vegetables, the produce industry has responded to consumers' unrelenting demand for convenience by giving them salad that's pre-washed and packaged in plastic. Yet the convenience may have a price: Some steps in processing might actually contribute to the spread of contamination.
Even after one of the biggest food-safety investigations in U.S. history, officials can only guess at what exactly caused the recent outbreak involving bagged fresh spinach, which killed three people and sickened 201 in 26 states and Canada. Worse, they still can't guarantee that every salad will be safe to eat.
Work on safety guidelines that the FDA is ready to propose began in 2004 -- though it has been slowed because staff time has been devoted to finding the source of the most recent outbreaks of E coli.
Even when these guidelines are finished, the FDA says they will be voluntary, according to the Sheboygan Press.
Growers are ready to implement new procedures on how to prevent contamination in green leafy vegetables from the planting stage to the time they reach the dinner table.
Because produce grows outdoors in the dirt, there is little you can do that will make it 100 percent safe unless you cook it or irradiate it, and it is unlikely that consumers will begin cooking all fresh produce, while there is skepticism about the public's acceptance of irradiated product. Researchers at the University of Illinois expressed concerns about existing technologies - including irradiation - that can reduce or eliminate pathogenic bacteria from fresh produce.
Food science professors are testing ozone, high-intensity ultrasound, electrolyzed water, irradiation, and temperature, and they say no treatment singlehandedly can reduce the number of pathogens sufficiently to meet the standards set by the FDA.
QSR.com recently highlighted several E. coli outbreaks that happened at the end of 2006. The author, Fred Minnick, brought up the E. coli outbreaks due to the impact they had on quick-serve restaurants, such as Taco Bell and Taco John's.
"E. coli was another big headline maker in the QSR segment as Taco Bell and Taco John’s served food contaminated with the virus,” said QSR.com. “Both brands quickly responded to consumer and public concerns with targeted store closures and the temporary removal of green onions from its menu. Taco John’s even paid hospital bills for those inflicted with the illness. Despite their efforts, however, both brands are being sued.”
“This latest outbreak is proof that the food industry has not done enough to protect consumers from deadly pathogens like E. coli O157:H7,” said William Marler, a food safety advocate who has represented over a thousand victims of E. coli outbreaks. “It is time for Congress to step into the arena and call hearings to explore the causes of recent outbreaks and to help prevent future outbreaks from happening.”
Among the concerns outlined in the Monterey County Grand Jury's 2006 report was E. coli contamination in the Salinas Valley lettuce and spinach fields, which has plagued the area for years now, reports the Monterey County Herald.
As part of their investigation, grand jury members accompanied federal, state and local health officials on a survey of Santa Rita Creek last May. During the survey, the report said, the group observed land littered with cans, tires, bed frames and mattresses as well as animal feces.
Fecal material and samples of water samples from one parcel containing cattle and a llama with access to the creek were tested for E. coli 0157:H7. Although the results were negative, the grand jury report recommended that the county health department enforce state codes protecting waterways from animal contamination.
Another E. coli lawsuit has been filed against Taco Bell today by Marler Clark. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Michael Notar, a Clinton, New York, resident who became ill with an E. coli infection and was hospitalized for four days after eating E. coli-contaminated food at Taco Bell.
The filing coincides with Taco Bell’s announcement that Taco Bell President Greg Creed and Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell will tour the Taco Bell restaurant located at Franklin Mills Circle in Philadelphia today.
“While Taco Bell is parading around with politicians, the victims of this outbreak continue to incur costs related to their illnesses,” said William Marler, attorney for Mr. Notar and managing partner of Marler Clark. “The least a multi-million dollar corporation like Taco Bell can do is make a good will gesture and pay my clients’ medical expenses.”
According to the complaint, Mr. Notar ate food from Taco Bell locations in Yorkville and Utica, New York, before becoming ill with symptoms of E. coli infection on December 5. His symptoms worsened, and he was hospitalized at St. Luke’s Hospital in New Hartford, New York, on December 6. Mr. Notar was released from the hospital four days later, but continues to suffer gastrointestinal discomfort as a result of his illness, and has scheduled several medical procedures in January to further treat the injuries he sustained while he was ill with E. coli.
“Corporate responsibility means stepping up to the plate and saying you’re sorry when you’ve done something wrong – like poison your customers – and then putting forth an effort to make things right,” Marler concluded.
Marler Clark has associated Underberg & Kessler, a respected Rochester law firm, on the case. The two firms have worked together in other New York litigation, including E. coli and Salmonella cases. Most recently, they were appointed by the New York Court of Claims to represent over 700 victims of cryptosporidiosis at the Seneca Lake State Park Spraypark during the summer of 2005. The case was recently designated a class action.
Notably, the E. coli outbreak that was traced to contaminated spinach was the most memorable story food writers across the nation wrote about this year.
While Taco Bell and Taco John's try to recover from the effects of E. coli outbreaks traced to letuce served at their restaurants, The Daily Mail acknowledged that food editors, who would usually focus on the positive - good recipes, the history of a particular food, etc. - found this to be the most important headline of the year.
E. coli-contaminated spinach traced to a farm in California's Salinas Valley killed three people and infected more than 200 people in 26 states this past September, bringing the topic of food safety back into the limelight once again.
Dr. Robert Field, chair of the Department of Health Policy and Public Health at University of the Sciences in Philadelphia said Americans' lives depend on enforcing food regulations, reports the VitaBeat blog.
“We have come to take the safety of what we eat for granted. We know that too much fast food can kill us over time, but how many people realized that on rare occasions, it can do so much more quickly,” Field in a press statement. “A tremendous amount of effort that we never see goes on in the trenches by regulators every day. It is not glamorous, but our lives can depend on it.”
The King of Prussia Courier reports that Taco Bell has reopened several restaurants that were implicated in the recent E. coli outbreak.
“Early on, Taco Bell came out and said they had a culture match of the E. coli on the green onions and pulled all the green onions out of their restaurants and then fired their supplier,' said Bill Marler, a Seattle attorney who is representing victims of the outbreak in litigation against Taco Bell and its produce supplier.
“It looked logical that it was the green onions, because why would Taco Bell do that? But apparently when the FDA came in, they found that the E. coli test was wrong,” he noted. “Their interviews with the victims indicated that lettuce was the most likely source of contamination.”
More than 70 cases of E. coli have also occurred recently at the Taco John chain of Mexican restaurants in the Midwest. "The Taco John outbreak in Iowa and Minnesota, at last count, had official numbers that are more than the Taco Bell outbreak," Marler said.
Bob Sandelman, CEO of a research company that did a survey on whether people would return to Taco Bell restaurants after an E. coli outbreak sickened over 70 people in the northeast, says, "It's still a raw issue because it's still in the news."
But he adds that consumer concerns will fade over time, or even disappear, once the cause of the outbreak is pinpointed.
In Congress, Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., who will chair the agriculture subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee, intends to hold her first hearing on food-safety issues. She hopes to haul in Taco Bell executives, along with other industry figures.
One of her priorities will be to reintroduce legislation she co-sponsored with Illinois Senator Dick Durbin to create a single food-safety agency. Different agencies, she pointed out, regulate Taco Bell's products. The Food and Drug Administration oversees produce while the Agriculture Department is supposed to monitor the meat and cheese.
A second lawsuit has been filed against Taco John's on behalf of a victim of the recent E. coli O157:H7 outbreak that was traced to contaminated lettuce served at Taco John's restaurants in Iowa and Minnesota.
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Waterloo resident Karen Hibben-Levi. Ms. Hibben-Levi is represented by Seattle attorneys Marler-Clark, the nation’s leading law firm representing victims of foodborne illness, who filed its first E. coli lawsuit against Taco John’s on December 14.
A joint investigation by Iowa and Minnesota health officials indicated that E. coli-contaminated lettuce was the source of the Taco John’s E. coli outbreak, which ultimately resulted in 77 E. coli cases among customers who ate at Taco John’s locations between November 28 and December 6. On December 13, Taco John’s announced that the company had contracted with a new vendor to supply produce to its approximately 100 Midwest franchises.
“E. coli in lettuce has become almost a systemic problem for the fresh produce industry,” said William Marler, attorney for Ms. Hibben-Levi. “Given the recent history of lettuce E. coli outbreaks, I question Taco John’s’ decision to switch produce suppliers. At this point, the issue is at the farm level, not at the distribution level, and it seems that one supplier’s produce is not likely safer than the next.”
“Instead of looking at one restaurant or one supplier, it’s time we took a hard look at all aspects of lettuce production in this country – from farm to fork – and came up with some real solutions to prevent future outbreaks,” Marler continued. “It’s time for the federal legislature to take up this issue and bring all parties involved, including players from the fresh produce industry, university researchers, FDA, CDC, and consumers, to the table and hammer out real solutions to this recurring problem.”
William Marler, a food safety advocate and attorney who is representing 10 victims of an E. coli outbreak at several Taco John's locations in Iowa and Minnesota, called today on Taco John's to pay the medical bills of all individuals who became ill with E. coli infections as part of the outbreak.
“We know that at least 26 people were hospitalized during this outbreak,” Marler said. “Some families are already facing bills in the tens of thousands of dollars. It’s only right that Taco John’s should step up and pay all victims’ medical bills.”
Marler noted that in other outbreak-situations companies such as Dole, Jack in the Box, Odwalla, Chi-Chi’s and Sheetz advanced medical costs for outbreak victims whose illnesses were traced to their food products. “Other companies have shown their commitment to corporate responsibility and have put their customers first. It is my hope that Taco John’s will follow their lead,” Marler concluded.
Health officials have counted at least 77 people as being part of the outbreak, which was traced to Taco John’s restaurants in Iowa, and Minnesota. The Black Hawk County, Iowa, health department reported that at least 18 people had been hospitalized with E. coli infections after eating at Iowa Taco John’s restaurants, and Minnesota health officials reported 8 hospitalizations. At least two people developed hemolytic uremic syndrome, a complication of E. coli infection that can cause kidney failure and central nervous system impairment and requires extended hospitalization and medical treatment.
The Associated Press points out that the FDA and CDC have investigated at least five produce-related outbreaks in the last four months, including the spinach E. coli outbreak, which sickened over 200 people and killed 4, and two Salmonella outbreaks that were traced to contaminated tomatoes served in restaurants. Combined, those outbreaks sickened 400.
The outbreaks cast media lights on the issue of food safety, and the focus grew more intense this month, when at least 71 customers at Taco Bell restaurants in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware were reported ill.
Through a process of elimination, health officials have named iceberg lettuce as the culprit, and they feel confident about it despite a lack of scientific evidence.
The Food and Drug Administration's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition has published a fact sheet, titled, "Questions and Answers: Taco Bell E. coli O157:H7 Outbreak."
Q. Does FDA know what caused the E. coli O157:H7 infections linked to some Taco Bell Restaurants in several Northeastern states?
A: Shredded Iceberg lettuce has been implicated in the current E. coli O157:H7 outbreak. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in conjunction with state and local health authorities, initially identified three food items served at the Taco Bell restaurants considered to be the most likely sources of the bacterial infection: shredded iceberg lettuce, cooked ground beef, and cheddar cheese. For a variety of reasons, it now appears very likely that the shredded lettuce was the vehicle of transmission, and very unlikely that the infections were transmitted by the meat or cheese.
Q: Are people still getting sick as a result of this outbreak?
A: This outbreak is considered to be over. According to the CDC, the latest onset of illness connected with this outbreak is December 6, 2006. The rate of newly reported illnesses has declined substantially. Cases still remain under investigation, but the data indicates that these individuals consumed iceberg lettuce no later than the first week of December.
Q: Where exactly are the restaurants and the reported illnesses located that have been associated with this outbreak?
A: A total of 71 cases in five states have been reported to the CDC: Delaware (2 cases), New Jersey (33 cases), New York (22 cases), Pennsylvania (13 cases) and South Carolina (1 case — this person ate at a Taco Bell in Pennsylvania). 53 hospitalizations and 8 cases of Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (HUS) have been reported. Taco Bell restaurants in other states have not been connected with this outbreak.
Q: Is lettuce in grocery stores and other restaurants safe?
A: There is no reason to suspect that lettuce in grocery stores is unsafe. Lettuce available in grocery stores has not been connected with the lettuce implicated in the outbreak linked to some Taco Bell restaurants in the Northeast.
Q: Are onions and green onions safe?
A: Early reports that green onions were implicated in this outbreak were inaccurate. There is no indication that any type of onions, including green onions, are unsafe or are connected in any way with this outbreak.
Q: Where did the shredded lettuce at Taco Bell restaurants come from?
A: The precise source of the shredded lettuce is under investigation. FDA has expedited its traceback efforts in an attempt to quickly find the source of the lettuce. The agency has set up a special team of food safety experts to review all available information as quickly as possible to pinpoint where the lettuce originated.
Q: How could the lettuce have become contaminated?
A: It is too soon to tell. FDA is working with state health agencies and the CDC to determine how and where the lettuce may have become contaminated.
Q: Could any of the shredded lettuce connected with the outbreak still be in distribution?
A: FDA believes that this is unlikely and that the suspect lettuce was distributed only to some Taco Bell restaurants.
Q: Is the lettuce in this outbreak related in any way to the current outbreak linked to Taco John's restaurants in Iowa and Minnesota?
A: Detailed DNA analysis (fingerprinting) has proved that the E. coli O157:H7 causing illnesses in Iowa and Minnesota is a different strain than that linked to illnesses from Taco Bell restaurants in the Northeast.
Q: What should I do if I believe I may be infected?
A: Consumers who are concerned that they may have contracted E. coli O157:H7 infection from eating this lettuce should contact their health care provider to seek appropriate medical evaluation and treatment.
Q: What is FDA doing to increase the safety of lettuce and other fresh produce?
A: The FDA developed the Lettuce Safety Initiative in response to recurring outbreaks of E. coli O157:H7 in lettuce. The primary goals of the initiative are to reduce public health risks by focusing on the product, agents and areas of greatest concern and to alert consumers early and respond rapidly in the event of an outbreak. On August 24, 2006, the State of California Department of Health Services and Department of Food and Agriculture and the FDA met with industry and academia to further clarify the goals, objectives and the next steps for the Lettuce Safety Initiative. This meeting was facilitated by the Western Institute for Food Safety and Security. This initiative is based on the 2004 Produce Safety Action Plan, intended to minimize the incidence of food borne illness associated with the consumption of fresh produce.
FDA is considering a variety of options to increase the safety of all fresh produce marketed in the United States. The agency will hold a public hearing on the issue in early 2007.
Bix Produce, the company that the Minnesota Department of Health has identified as the supplier of E. coli-contaminated lettuce to Taco John's restaurants in Minnesota and Iowa, announced that it will implement new measures to ensure produce safety.
The Minneapolis Star-Tribune reports that Bix is hiring a longtime crisis management spokesman and trying to prevent further loss of sales.
The changes came a day after the produce processing company was dropped by Taco John's as its supplier of shredded lettuce. Minnesota health officials have linked the E. coli cases to shredded lettuce supplied by Bix. The E. coli-contaminated lettuce has sickened more than 20 people in Taco John's restaurants in Minnesota and Iowa.
An E. coli lawsuit was filed against Taco John's in Federal District Court for the Northern District of Iowa.
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Ryan and Angela Saul, a Cedar Falls couple whose nine-year-old daughter, Autumn, is hospitalized at the University of Iowa Hospital in Iowa City. The Sauls are represented by Marler Clark, the Seattle law firm that has represented hundreds of victims of E. coli outbreaks, including 93 victims of this fall’s outbreak traced to contaminated spinach, and dozens of victims of the recent E. coli outbreak traced to Taco Bell.
According to the complaint, Autumn Saul ate two soft shell tacos purchased from the University Avenue Taco John’s restaurant in Cedar Falls on November 29, and became ill with symptoms of an E. coli infection on December 2. Autumn’s symptoms worsened, and she was admitted to the hospital after an emergency room visit on December 7. She was subsequently transferred to the University of Iowa Hospital in Iowa City, where she remains hospitalized and is being monitored for complications of E. coli infection, including hemolytic uremic syndrome.
The Black Hawk County Health Department has confirmed 33 people as being ill with E. coli infections after eating at the Cedar Falls Taco John’s location, including 14 people who were hospitalized, and the Minnesota Department of Health has reported related illnesses among patrons of the Albert Lea and Austin, Minnesota, Taco John’s locations.
The Chelan-Douglas Health District has issued a press release regarding an E. coli outbreak that sickened a at least six people, one adult and five children, in the Chelan and Manson areas around Thanksgiving.
The Seattle Times and the Associated Press are both reporting that at least one child is hospitalized at Seattle Children's Hospital with hemolytic uremic syndrome.
According to the Chelan-Douglas Health District press release, the agency is receiving investigative support from the State Department of Health, as well as the Seattle-King County and Snohomish County Health Departments in this investigation.
The FDA and CDC E. coli outbreak investigation into illnesses at Taco Bell restaurants in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware took a turn this week, when health officials determined that green onions were not the source of the outbreak.
Investigators from the CDC and FDA announced that the likely source of the outbreak is E. coli-contaminated lettuce.
The New York Post reported an increase in the number of victims from the Taco Bell E. coli outbreak. While the outbreak continues, Taco Bell stores that had been closed due to the E. coli outbreak have reopened. Taco Bell has written an open letter stating that food in Taco Bell stores is safe.
An E. coli outbreak that had been traced to a Taco John's restaurant in Cedar Falls, Iowa, has also been potentially linked to an outbreak in Albert Lea, Minnesota.
Minnesota officials announced that they were investigating an apparent outbreak of E. coli infections tied to a Taco John's restaurant in Albert Lea, which is just north of Iowa.
18 people in Black Hawk County have been hospitalized this month after eating at a local Taco John's restaurant.
Approximately 100 Taco John's franchises in the Midwest will be using a new produce vendor starting as soon as today as an extreme precautionary response to reports of potential E. coli contamination at three of the franchise locations, one in Iowa and two in Minnesota, that used a common vendor. The remainder of the Taco John's system utilizes other produce vendors.
The Seattle law firm Marler Clark filed its second lawsuit in the Taco Bell E. coli outbreak. The lawsuit named Yum! Brands, the parent company of Taco Bell and Ready Pac Produce Inc., the company that packaged and distributed fresh produce to Taco Bell restaurants.
According to the suit, Jared Keller, a Utica, New York, resident, became ill with symptoms of an E. coli O157:H7 infection two days after eating at the North Genesee Street Taco Bell location in Utica. Mr. Keller’s symptoms worsened over the course of the next few days, and he was admitted to St. Luke’s Hospital.
Seattle attorney William Marler has proposed congressional hearings focused on the following:
More than a dozen people are hospitalized with what health officials suspect is an E. coli bacteria ingested at a Taco John's restaurant in Cedar Falls.
According to the Black Hawk County Health Department, at least 33 people were suffering from severe diarrhea and other symptoms after dining at the restaurant today. Fourteen have been hospitalized.
Local and state health officials say preliminary test results suggest E. coli is to blame, though a final report isn't expected until Monday.
Health officials say the Taco John's in Cedar Falls remains open and has removed any suspected ingredients from its menu and sanitized the facility.
Bloomberg News reporter Josh Fineman reported that E. coli cases from Taco Bell have topped 200. Fineman discusses confirmed cases that are counted by the CDC, and breaks down other potential cases by state:
An E. coli O157:H7 outbreak has been traced to a fast food restaurant in eastern Iowa, according to the Des Moines Register. The outbreak is said to have sickened at least 19 people, hospitalizing 14 of those who became ill as part of the outbreak. The Black Hawk County Health Department is investigating the outbreak, and expects lab test to be completed on Monday.
A number of the E. coli outbreak victims are students at the University of Northern Iowa. Last month, an E. coli O157:H7 outbreak that sickened a number of University of North Carolina students was traced to a Chapel Hill restaurant.
An E. coli lawsuit has been filed on behalf of Stephen Minnis, a Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, resident who became ill with an E. coli O157:H7 infection after eating food from the Taco Bell restaurant located on East Philadelphia Avenue in Gilbertsville.
The lawsuit was filed against Yum! Brands, the parent company of Taco Bell, in United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania by Marler Clark, the Seattle law firm with a national reputation for the successful representation of E. coli victims.
Taco Bell has a connection to prior foodborne illness outbreaks. In 1999, At least ten San Francisco Bay-area people became ill with E. coli infections after eating at Taco Bell. In 2000, dozens of people became ill with Hepatitis A, after eating contaminated green onions at Taco Bell locations in Florida, Kentucky, and Nevada.
The Star-Ledger reported on the Taco Bell E. coli outbreak, which is suspected to have been caused by contaminated green onions.
The newspaper interviewed Richard Miller, a former Marler-Clark client who became ill with hepatitis A after eating green onions at a Chi-Chi's restaurant in Western Pennsylvania in 2003. He was among 650 people sickened in the outbreak -- the nation's largest -- that eventually was linked to green onions from Mexico. More than 120 people were hospitalized. Three died.
“I'm torn between anger and a total lack of trust in our food supply,” Miller said. “We need our agriculture departments to hold their feet to the fire.”
The New York Times reported today that 99 people have been confirmed ill with E. coli infections in connection with this outbreak, and stated that additional Taco Bell restaurants and a second food distributor had been implicated in the outbreak.
New York reported 41 E. coli cases on Long Island and an increase in illnesses reported from upstate. New Jersey reported 43 E. coli cases, with additional cases under investigation. Pennsylvania has also reported 7 E. coli cases.
The Food and Drug Administration today annonced that the agency is involved in the investigation related to the E. coli O157:H7 outbreak at Taco Bell restaurants. The FDA is actively working with state and local health officials, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the firm, suppliers and distributors to determine the cause of the sicknesses and prevent additional infections.
The investigation has so far focused on green onions, or scallions, supplied to Taco Bell. According to the LA Times, New Jersey food safety regulators and the FDA are investigating two suppliers: McLane Foodservice and a Florence, N.J., facility operated by Irwindale-based Ready Pac Foods Inc.
Ready Pac today announced that it has ceased distribution of green onions until the investigation into the Taco Bell E. coli outbreak has been completed.
The New York State Health Department has issued a press release regarding its investigation into illnesses traced to Taco Bell restaurants.
State Health Commissioner Antonia C. Novello, M.D., M.P.H., Dr.P.H., today announced that the State Health Department is investigating 15 cases with laboratory evidence of a E. coli O157:H7 infection in New York State tied to a national outbreak associated with Taco Bell restaurants. An additional 15 cases are also being investigated. There have been 13 hospitalizations and 1 report of hemolytic uremic syndrome, a severe complication of E. coli O157:H7 infection that can lead to kidney failure.
The New York State Department of Health is independently testing the green onions to confirm preliminary test results obtained by Taco Bell. Taco Bell has removed green onions at all of its restaurants nationwide.
The New Jersey Department of Health and Social Services issued a press release on December 6th regarding the E. coli O157:H7 outbreak traced to Taco Bell restaurants.
They are recommending that all Taco Bells in New Jersey receiving food from the McLane Foodservice, Inc. of Burlington discard all current food supplies and clean and sanitize their facilities.
NJDHSS has been working closely with the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, neighboring state and local health departments, New Jersey’s local health departments, and Taco Bell Corp. regarding the ongoing investigation of statewide cases of E. coli associated with Taco Bell.
According to the press release, Taco Bell Corp. has announced that three samples of green onions were found to be presumptive positive for E. coli O157:H7 by an independent testing laboratory. As a strictly precautionary effort, Taco Bell Corp. has removed green onions at all of its approximately 5,800 restaurants nationwide.
Newsweek's Jessica Bennett recently interviewed Debra Hotzman, a food safety expert, about what people can do to prevent illness when dining out:
Q: "We often see children as the victims of food illness. Why are they so much more at risk?
A: Anybody can get a food-borne illness. But the people who are at risk for severe complications are anyone who has a weakened immune system—young children, older people, pregnant people, people who are post-operative. Those are the people who should take real [care].
Q: This is the second E. coli outbreak in just a few months. What does that say about our food industry?
A: We need more stringent regulations in place. I think there should be a single agency in charge of all food safety.
Q: How long did it take for people eat spinach again—and do you think it's safe?
A: Spinach is one of the most wonderful foods that you can eat. And when you buy it, like with all leafy vegetables, there are things that you can do. You can remove the outer leaves at first and throw them away and then really spend time washing them under clear, clean, running water. Also keep up to date on recalls and safety alerts. The truth is that bacteria are sticky—hard to remove. But if you're really concerned, if you're somebody with a weakened immune system, then cook the spinach."
An E. coli outbreak among patrons of New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania-area Taco Bell restaurants has been traced to E. coli-contminated green onions.
Taco Bell has pulled all green onions from restaurants nationwide and closed suburban Philadelphia Taco Bell stores after four E. coli cases were confirmed in Pennsylvania. The Taco Bell press release regarding its decision to remove green onions from its stores can be found at www.tacobell.com, and stated that an independent lab had been hired to test green onions from Taco Bell. Three tests came back presumptive positive for E. coli O157:H7.
The New York Times reports that 39 people in New York and New Jersey had become ill as part of the outbreak. The updated count for illnesses in central New Jersey alone is 40 today, according to the Asbury Park Press. 6abc.com out of Philadelphia has also reported that at least 4 people have become ill in Pennsylvania.
William Marler, a nationally-recognized food safety advocate and attorney, today called on Taco Bell and its parent company, Yum! Brands, Inc., "to do the right thing and immediately pay the medical bills for the victims of this most recent E. coli O157:H7 outbreak traced Taco Bell restaurants in New York and New Jersey."
Marler noted that in other outbreak-situations, companies such as Dole, Jack in the Box, Odwalla, Chi-Chi’s and Sheetz advanced medical costs for outbreak victims whose illnesses were traced to their food products.
To date, New York and New Jersey health officials have reported that 39 people have been confirmed as victims of this Taco Bell outbreak. At least 2 victims develop hemolytic uremic syndrome, a potentially lethal complication of E. coli O157:H7 infection, and are still hospitalized. “With such devastating injuries, and so many of them,” Marler continued, “I hope that Taco Bell executives step up and do the right thing for their customers.”
The New York Times reports that 35 people are ill with E. coli in New Jersey and Long Island.
At least five people are in the hospital, including two with hemolytic uremic syndrome, after eating at New Jersey-area Taco Bell restaurants. The E. coli outbreak has so far sickened at least 22 people, and has been traced to multiple Taco Bell locations.
Twenty of those infected, including two restaurant employees who tested positive for E. coli but did not get sick, ate at a Taco Bell in South Plainfield.
Authorities are trying to determine how and where the people with confirmed cases of E. coli became infected.
An E. coli O157:H7 outbreak in New Jersey has sickened at least 19 people, most of whom reported eating at New Jersey Taco Bell restaurants in the days before they became ill with symptoms of E. coli infections.
The victims range in age from one to 23 years old. Seven remain hospitalized, two with hemolytic uremic syndrome, a complication of an E. coli infection that can lead to kidney failure, central nervous system impairment, and death.
Health officials are working to trace the source of the outbreak back to a particular food served at Taco Bell restaurants in South Plainfield, Edison, and Franklin Township. A 1999 outbreak traced to San Francisco-area Taco Bell restaurants was determined to be caused by consumption of under-cooked ground beef; however, recent E. coli outbreaks at other fast food restaurants have also been traced to contaminated fresh produce such as lettuce.
WJZ TV reports former USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service director Michael Taylor has concerns with the current U.S. food safety system, saying, "We have a system that's not working as well as we can and we will continue having these problems until we address prevention."
Food safety experts have been advocating for a single food safety agency to regulate the U.S. food supply. Taylor pointed out no one agency regulates the food industry and in particular produce. 'We have a fragmented system with the FDA being responsible for part of the food supply and the USDA being responsible for meat and poultry.'"
The Californian and North County Times report that Chris Martin of Murrieta, California, was hospitalized with an E. coli infection and hemolytic uremic syndrome after eating spinach and raw milk.
Although Chris' parents aren't sure what the source of his infection was, they believe that antibiotics administered when they took their son to the hospital could have led to his developing HUS. The couple said they believe their son would have recovered fairly easily from the E. coli infection were it not for a dose of antibiotics he should never have been given. This medical error, they said, pushed Chris to develop hemolytic uremic syndrome and ultimately kidney failure.
An E. coli infection can still lead to the syndrome without a dose of antibiotics, but the odds are significantly increased if a patient is given antibiotics. In Chris' case, his father said doctors did not wait for the results of a culture to come back to confirm E. coli, that they thought it was colitis, an inflammation of the colon.
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 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:
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.
The Daily Tarheel reported that students at the University of North Carolina are hesitant to return to McAllister's, a popular deli, after a recent E. coli outbreak was traced to the restaurant.
A recent E. coli outbreak might have infected only seven students and two community members, but its impact has affected the eating habits of countless more students.
Several students said they are hesitant to return to McAlister's Deli, which is being investigated by the Orange County Health Department as a possible source of the outbreak.
The number of people with confirmed cases of E. coli in Chapel Hill has risen to eight. Of the eight confirmed cases, seven are University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill students. Health officials said seven of the eight recalled eating at McAlister's, a restaurant at 205 E. Franklin St. in Chapel Hill Oct. 23-25.
Both the people with confirmed cases and those they knew who also ate at the restaurant and did not get sick are being asked by the Environmental Health Services Division to complete food histories of that period to try to find a common link. Officials hope the tests will also narrow the focus of any possible causes, if any are found.
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 University of North Carolina and North Carolina Department of Health announced that they are investigating an E. coli O157:H7 outbreak among UNC students. Although no common source of exposure to the bacteria has been identified, health officials are working to determine the cause of the outbreak and do not believe that more students are at risk of developing the E. coli infection.
Three University students have, to date, developed confirmed cases of gastroenteritis caused by E. coli O157:H7 bacteria. This illness causes severe diarrhea, abdominal cramps and is occasionally associated with severe complications, especially in young children and the elderly.
The affected students developed symptoms between October 26th and 29th. Health authorities are investigating a small number of additional possible cases among University students.
The owners of the Paicines Ranch, which has reportedly been under investigation as a potential source of the E. coli O157:H7 outbreak traced to contaminated spinach, issued a statement about reports of its involvement.
The owners told KSBW: " The Paicines Ranch is not under investigation by any government agency. We lease row crop land to farmers. Whether or not these farmers are under investigation is unknown to us. If you want to know whether a particular farmer is under investigation, you should ask them. Since we neither farm nor process row crops of any kind, we are unable to comment further.”
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.
The LA Times reports concerns from several grocers who are putting pressure on the produce industry to ensure fresh produce is safe.
An October survey of consumer attitudes by the association found that 22% of the respondents lacked confidence in the safety of all fresh produce products, not just spinach.
As the spinach crisis unfolded in September, the lack of reliable industry standards became apparent. Currently, growers are using a hodgepodge of safety measures and procedures to raise their crops.
The Salinas Californian also reports that the owner of Paicines Ranch, which is under investigation as the potential source of the spinach E. coli outbreak, said that his operation didn’t grow or process the suspect spinach but that he rents fields to two tenants. While one of the tenants has been cleared, he said the other tenant, Otto Kramm, is still being investigated.
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.
In response to a nationwide E. coli O157:H7 outbreak traced to contaminated spinach, produce industry leaders held a recent meeting to address industry concerns and to discuss what is likely impending legislation if the industry does not find a solution to produce contamination soon.
According to the Capital Press, Dr. Robert Brackett, director of Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, said the recent E. coli outbreak linked to fresh spinach from a Salinas Valley processor demonstrates the need for the produce industry to take food safety seriously.
He said the outbreak, which sickened nearly 200 and killed three, has cost $17 million in public health costs. He advised the industry to work together to strengthen food safety standards as a way to rebuild consumer confidence in fresh produce.
A lawsuit was filed today on behalf of the estate of Ruby Trautz, an 81-year-old Nebraska resident who died on August 31, 2006, after suffering complications of an E. coli O157:H7 infection traced to contaminated spinach.
The lawsuit was filed by Marler Clark, the Seattle law firm with a national reputation for the successful representation of victims of foodborne illnesses, and Berry & Kelly, a respected Lincoln, Nebraska, law firm. “John Doe Farms” is named as a defendant, along with Dole Food Company, Natural Selections Foods, and No Frills Supermarkets.
“FDA owes it to the American public, and to the victims of this outbreak in particular, to release information as to the identity of the spinach farm. This far into the outbreak investigation, FDA should already have named the farm where the spinach came from,” said attorney Bill Marler. “We included John Doe Farms as a defendant to try to get more answers for our clients.”
This latest lawsuit is the eighth filed by Marler Clark on behalf of victims of the spinach E. coli outbreak. The firm has filed lawsuits on behalf of residents of Maryland, Wisconsin, Oregon, Michigan, Utah, and New York, but this is the first time the firm has named the retail outlet where the victims purchased the spinach and the farm where the spinach was grown.
The Associated Press reported today that FDA and California Department of Health investigators believe they have found three potential sources of the spinach E. coli outbreak: Wild pigs, cattle, and contaminated water.
Samples taken from a wild pig, as well as from stream water and cattle on the ranch, have tested positive for the same strain of E. coli implicated in the outbreak. Investigators are looking at three other ranches in the areas in seeking the source of the contaminated fresh spinach.
California State Senator Dean Florez, who held a hearing on the spinach outbreak, said he plans to introduce bills in December to add a half-dozen new state regulations related to growing and packaging food, including how fields can be irrigated safely.
“We're going to focus in on the water,'' said Florez. ``We'll also work on better worker conditions, in terms of the equipment they use in the fields.''
Florez's proposal, among other actions, would allow farmers following organic practices to use more chlorine to disinfect their vegetables than is currently permitted under labeling standards for so-called organic foods.
Milwaukee NBC affiliate, TMJ4, reported on their investigation into whether spinach now on the shelves in Wisconsin supermarkets is safe and free of pathogenic bacteria.
The investigation did not uncover any E. coli or other bacteria on spinach sampled from Milwaukee stores, but consumers are still skeptical about whether they should eat bagged spinach and lettuce from California's Salinas Valley.
The food industry and Dr. G. Richard Olds from the Medical College of Wisconsin both assert that spinach and other vegetables are safe to eat. However, with the number of E. coli outbreaks traced to produce in recent years, consumers are still concerned.
Ellen Kanner with the Sun-Herald points out that fresh produce may not always be stored below 41 degrees fahrenheit to prevent spoilage and the growth of pathogenic bacteria, the outbreak problem is not the temperature at which fresh produce is stored. It is that produce is contaminated in the first place.
While the CDC, FDA, and the produce industry are working to curb outbreaks, consumers cannot prevent their fresh produce from being contaminated just by properly refrigerating. Produce destined for consumers' plates needs to reach them without pathogenic bacteria already present.
Investigators have identified a possible source - tainted cow manure from a neighboring pasture. How the manure got to the spinach fields isn't clear. Other possible causes are still being explored, from tainted irrigation water to errors made in processing. Some experts claim bagging produce keeps bacteria at bay, but others assert it creates a greenhouse effect when produce isn't kept at optimum conditions.
Supermarkets try to keep their refrigerator cases at 41, but often the temperature goes higher. It goes far above 41 on kitchen counters, where we trust the fresh produce we've just bought will be safe if we leave it out for a bit. At room temperature, bacteria proliferate.
The Chetek Alert reports that Barron County health officials believe that people who became ill with E. coli infections may have become ill after eating at a fundraiser for Habitat for Humanity.
Barron County Health Officer Kaye Thompson and Randy Wilson, Barron County Sanitarian, are asking that any person that participated in the fund-raising dinner and is experiencing symptoms such as diarrhea, abdominal cramps, vomiting or fever to contact the Barron County Department of Health and Human Services and to see a physician.
E. coli O157:H7 infections can lead to complications called hemolytic uremic syndrome and thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura, which can lead to acute kidney failure, central nervous system damage, and impairment of other major organs.
The Redding, California, newspaper has reported that another California resident has been confirmed to be ill with the same strain of E. coli O157:H7 as that which was recalled by Natural Selections Foods.
Shasta County Public Health officials confirmed the illness as part of the outbreak, but would not disclose the outlet where the victim purchased and consumed the spinach. Dr. Lou Anne Cummings, Shasta County Public Health deputy health officer, said the patient had eaten at two restaurants that may have received shipments of the contaminated spinach.
Both restaurants had been following all proper rules and procedures, and the contaminated spinach has been removed, limiting the spread of the virulent bacteria.
HometownAnnapolis.com reports that Maryland health officials have confirmed two more E. coli O157:H7 cases as having the same genetic fingerprint as the strain of E. coli linked to the spinach outbreak.
Maryland's Department of Health and Mental Hygiene's announcement also addressed the death of June Dunning, an elderly woman from Haggerstown. Seattle law firm Marler-Clark has filed a lawsuit on behalf of the Dunning family.
Neither child in the most recent cases was hospitalized, said health department spokesman John Hammond.
A ConsumerMan report on MSNBC points to the fact that some infected individuals are still in the hospital, including Marler-Clark client Suzanne Bandy of Ramsey, Illinois.
The article raises the question about who is accountable for the outbreak - is it the spinach famers? Is it government agencies? Who had the most ability to prevent the article in the first place? The ConsumerMan quotes Jean Holleran, a spokeswoman at Consumers Union, who said she tells individuals with a weakened immune system “to consider just eating cooked vegetables,” since we cannot guarantee the safety of fresh fruits and vegetables.
The article draws attention to the responsibilities of different organizations throughout the food chain. The bottom line, the article says, is that if consumers must be encouraged to eat only cooked produce there is a problem with the food safety system.
While farmers across the country have been hurt financially by this outbreak, the impacts of E. coli can last for longer than days, weeks, or months - but for lifetimes of the victims.
Marion Nestle, professor of nutrition, food studies, and public health at New York University, she asserts that the latest E. coli outbreak traced to fresh produce from the Salinas Valley was preventable and predictable and that having a single federal agency in charge of food safety is part of the solution to preventing outbreaks in the future. She tells NPR:
“For anyone who tracks the arcane politics of food safety in the United States, this outbreak was entirely predictable. Since 1998, the Food and Drug Administration has repeatedly warned producers of fresh fruit and vegetables about the dangers of E. coli 0157:H7 and the need for measures to keep potential sources of these bacteria well away from their crops.
In 2004, the FDA issued a plan for preventive steps that it fully expected vegetable producers to follow. But last year the agency complained that its long efforts to engage the lettuce industry ``have not yet resulted in a comprehensive, collaborative plan to address the issue of E. coli 0157:H7.'' The FDA then warned growers to get busy and fix the problem.
This August -- too late to prevent the current outbreak -- the agency extended this warning to spinach producers. The futility of the FDA's increasingly urgent pleas reflects the huge gaps in the nation's century-old and highly dysfunctional food safety system.”
The Baltimore Channel is reporting that Maryland has confirmed the state's fifth E. coli O157:H7 illness traced to contaminated spinach.
John Hammond, a spokesman for the state health department, said two more suspected Maryland cases are pending, including that of an elderly resident who died.
The state agency hasn't identified that person, but family members sait it was June E. Dunning, 86, of Hagerstown, who died Sept. 13 of an E. coli complication.
Marler Clark has filed a lawsuit on behalf of the family of Mrs. Dunning last week. The lawsuit was filed against Dole and Natural Selections.
The San Francisco Gate reports that the strain of E. coli O157:H7 isolated from case-patients and bags of spinach during the most recent E. coli outbreak is more virulent than other strains of E. coli O157:H7.
Health officials are working to determine why this particular strain seems to have caused a more severe illness in individuals who consumed contaminated spinach, and whether the molecular make-up of this strain of E. coli differs from other strains of E. coli O157:H7.
Peter Gerner-Schmidt, a scientist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention who is investigating the outbreak, agrees that that this strain is probably a more dangerous strain than others. Research is under way to figure out why.
Mea Andrews, a reporter for the Missoulian, recapped an E. coli O157:H7 outbreak that occurred in Missoula, Montana, in 1995 in a recent article.
The culprit was never fully pinned down, but it was most likely leaf lettuce. In fact,
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