Girl Gets E. Coli And Then HUS--All From Touching Deer Meat
You can’t even trust Bambi anymore. Doug Powell, from Barfblog, emailed me the story of a young girl who suffered HUS after contracting an E. coli infection from handling deer meat.
Beverly said the only other thing she could think of was that her husband, Red, had shot a deer the Friday after Thanksgiving. She helped him skin it and prepare bigger cuts to send off to a local butcher, but Red cut the tenderloin himself. "April was helping her daddy with the tenderloins," Beverly recalled. April placed the pieces of meat into freezer bags, handling the meat with her hands.
Here is the interesting part:
"Deer harbor infection - it's estimated that 17 percent of the whitetail population harbors E. coli," she said, and it appears they harbor a pretty nasty strain of it. The infection grows in the digestive system. But in the process of gutting and cleaning a deer carcass, it is easy to nick the bowels and spill the infected fluids.
E. coli O157:H7 was first recognized as a pathogen as a result of an outbreak of unusual gastrointestinal illness in 1982. The outbreak was traced to contaminated hamburgers, and the illness was similar to other incidents in the United States and Japan. The etiologic agent of the illness was identified as a rareO157:H7 serotype of Escherichia coli in 1983. This serotype had only been isolated once before, from a sick patient in 1975.
E. coli O157:H7 has jumped from cows to Bambi over the last 30 years or so. The fact that E. coli O157:H7 (and other emerging pathogens) have become such a part of the current food environment has to be taken into account in making food safety policy decisions. Comments like, “I used to drink raw milk or eat raw hamburger when I was a kid” are misplaced in light of the reality of the present existence of these pathogens. Beliefs that “grass-fed” meat (wonder what Bambie’s last meal was?) or “locally grown” or “raw” food is inherently safer have to take into account the present reality of these very nasty bugs.
It's hard to believe, but there is a county in the big, rich state of California where an E. coli death does not even get a full ten days worth of investigation before the case is closed without finding a source.
Solano Public Health staff are back-tracking the minor's activities, food sources, and water sources, and are in close communication with the State laboratory which is testing blood samples to determine the specific strain of E. coli.
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We received several calls last Monday from sorority sisters who had been sickened by 
Bill Scanlon at the Rocky Mountain News this morning is reporting with some detail on the Colorado 3-year old who died Friday of E coli O17:H7. According to The Rocky:
this bold assertion:
Seattle attorney Bill Marler is suing Organic Pastures, the nation's largest organic raw milk dairy, on behalf of two children who fell ill after consuming its products. Testing at the dairy farm near Fresno, Calif., did not detect the strain of E. coli that sickened the children, but a government report said the dairy was likely responsible.
The public sessions will be held on Wednesday, April 9, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Thursday, April 10, from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Holiday Inn Georgetown, 2101 Wisconsin Ave., NW, Washington, DC.
actions, we sometimes cannot help but thinking the food industry and its regulators are in cahoots to drag out recalls and confuse the public. 
An isolated case in an isolated place where no one has had E coli in four years. However, 8-year old Evie Hope Wray of Theodosia, MO was a confirmed E coli case; one that evolved into Hemolytic-uremic syndrome (HUS), And HUS killed Evie, who was a soccer and cat-loving second-grader at Lutie Elementary School.
The USDA's Food Safety & Inspection Service is hosting a public meeting on April 9, 2008 titled: E. coli O157:H7 - Addressing the Challenges, Moving Forward With Solutions.
Dr. Richard A. Raymond is Medical Doctor from Nebraska. Since July 2005, he has been Undersecretary for Food Safety at the United States Department of Agriculture. He was asked by the U.S. House Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations why there's been an uptick in e coli-related recalls.
First, create a local, state and national public health system that catches outbreaks before they balloon into a personal and business catastrophe. Everyone believes that the Jack in the Box outbreak started in Seattle in January 1993. It did not. It actually began in November 1992 when young Lauren Rudolph died and another 30 people were sickened in and around southern California. However, because E. coli O157:H7 was not a reportable illness at the time, the death and illnesses were not recognized as an outbreak and the contaminated meat was shipped to Seattle. CDC’s PulseNet and Food Net were launched and are rightly credited with helping reduce the size of outbreaks by helping to more quickly conclude what suspect product is causing harm. But surveillance of human bacterial disease is lacking. For many foodborne illnesses, for everyone culture positive case, 20 to 50 other cases are missed because of lack of surveillance. Most people who become ill with a bacterial or viral disease are either seldom seen or never cultured. The more people are tested, the greater the likelihood that a source, accidental or not, will be found sooner. 
We have seen some good work in the past from Philip Brasher, who works out of the Washington, D.C. bureau for the Des Moines Register. On Sunday, Brasher took on the Chino slaughterhouse scandal, which led to the largest recall of beef in U.S. history.
That was from the statement of the Denver-based National Cattlemen’s Beef Association after USDA announced that Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Company was recalling 143.3 million pounds of beef because the Chino slaughterhouse was routinely processing “downer” cattle. 
Marler Clark
Council Bluffs, Iowa Daily Nonpareil. The article sought the ethanol industry's response to research by Kansas State University and the University of Nebraska that concluded cattle that were fed distillers grain, an ethanol byproduct, had increased levels of E coli 0157H7 bacteria in their hindgut over cattle fed regular corn.
about like a hot potato among those who were involved. Taco Johns sued Bix Produce , Roma, Pacific Marketing and the Wegis Family Limited Partnership in federal court.
The suit asked that a jury award $5 million in damages.
Marti Davis of the Knoxville News Sentinel spoke with the McDonald family, whose two children became ill with
Health officials in Dallas now say they confiscated beef sold off the street to owners of the Chicken Shack, which is located in the 6000 block of Lamar Street, before it could be cooked or sold to anyone else.
According to a Texas health department division manager, recalled beef is finding its way into back alley transactions in places as surprising as barber shops, reports the Dallas Business Journal.
20-year-old Stephanie Smith has woken from nine weeks in a medically-induced coma shortly before Christmas. Smith became ill with an 
vengeance. All totaled meat producers were forced to recall over 33.3 million pounds of beef products. 
The Western Growers Association said there should be no exemptions from uniform steps that growers and handlers should have to follow to certify the safety of lettuce, spinach, endive, kale, cabbage and other greens.
Researchers from Kansas State University have concluded that cattle that are fed distiller's grain, a byproduct of ethanol production, have an increased incidence of 
Five-year-old Aubrey Anderson from Hutchinson, Kansas, was released from Wesley Medical Center after being hospitalized for a month with 
Vickie Shelton, a Knox County resident, passed away on Monday, November 26th at Central Baptist Hospital in Lexington after being admitted. Ms. Shelton had eaten ground beef before becoming ill, and public health officials are conducting tests to determine whether that ground beef was contaminated with 
The USDA is proposing that they ask the public about whether the leafy green industry should be further regulated.
Sharon Smith, the mother of Stephanie Smith, a Minnesota resident who has been hospitalized for months after eating a hamburger and becoming ill with 
In September, an 
Matt Roberts, a Mattoon High School senior from Mattoon, Illinois, became ill with an 
In an editorial titled, "Is the meat you buy safe enough?" that appears online at the Eco-Logic Powerhouse website, Henry Lamb evaluates the state of the meat industry and USDA's role in it, including the recent 
Five-year-old Aubrey Anderson is undergoing dialysis treatments at a Wichita hospital to combat the effects of 
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.
A loophole in the food safety system allows E. coli-contaminated ground beef to become part of pre-cooked products destined for the frozen foods section at grocery stores and school lunches through the USDA's National School Lunch Program, according to the Chicago Tribune.
The Sandusky County Health Department in Ohio is investigating the source of a Ross High School student's E. coli case.
Ground beef patties produced by Topps Meat Company that were recalled for possible E. coli contamination in September are still on store shelves.
Aubrey Anderson, a five-year-old from Sterling, Kansas, has been hospitalized with 
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.
E. coli cases in Iowa and New York have surfaced. In Iowa, three children have tested positive for 
A San Bernardino child has been diagnosed with E. coli, according to the Press-Enterprise. Public health officials are working to determine the source of 
Meat recalled a month ago that could be contaminated with 
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 
Federal investigators are saying that they have recently learned that Topps Meat Company failed to require adequate testing on the raw beef it bought from its domestic suppliers, and it sometimes mixed tested and untested meat in its grinding machines.
A Cocke County, Tennessee child has died after fighting an E. coli infection. The girl, who was 20-months-old and was diagnosed with 
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 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.
Federal regulators will be meeting to discuss the incidence of E. coli outbreaks and illnesses that can be attributed to E. coli strains that produce Shiga-toxins, but are not E. coli O157:H7.
Three students from Wisconsin and two North Carolina children were added to the number of E. coli illnesses caused by consumption of 
At least five Wisconsin residents have been diagnosed with E. coli, according to the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.
An E. coli outbreak among children who attend Galena Elementary School may not have come from a source inside or close to the school.
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 
Topps Meat Company, the company whose ground beef products were identified as the source of an 
Two E. coli cases have been reported in Grayson County, Kentucky, according to the Grayson County News-Gazette.
Public health officials and health care providers are trying to determine where a Seattle-area family picked up 
The number of 
Topps Meat Company LLC, of Elizabeth, NJ, has voluntarily expanded its recall announced on September 25 to include 21.7 million pounds of ground beef products that may be contaminated with 
A Topps Meats, of Elizabeth, New Jersey press release reported that at least 21 people in eight states could be part of an 
A six-year-old first grade student at Galena Elementary School in Indiana has been hospitalized with kidney failure after she developed 
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. 
Health officials in Russelville, Kentucky warn that two kindergarten students have been diagnosed with E. coli infections. It is unclear how the students became infected with 
Yesterday, an Idaho woman was added to the list of people who became ill with 
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 
Yesterday, the USDA announced that it has awarded $5.5 million to researchers who are working to determine the risk factors and prevention measures for 
A lot has happened since the largest ground beef recall in U.S. history, including a significant decline in E. coli contamination and illnesses. Since 1996, E. coli cases have trended downward, but in 2004 and 2006, E. coli cases are back up.
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.
A 2003 study on the prevalence of 
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 
Health officials in Glynn County, Georgia have confirmed that they are investigating three E. coli cases. So far this year, 15 
A two-year-old Canadian boy and three-year-old Japanese girl died recently after becoming ill with 
Researchers at Cornell University have conducted research that indicates Crohn's Disease can be caused by unpathogenic
Despite evidence that raw or unpasteurized milk carries health risks, growing numbers of consumers are skirting laws prohibiting the sale of unpasteurized milk through creative solutions called "cow sharing." In theory, the practice allows them to buy part of an animal and then, as a co-owner, acquire and drink its raw milk.
The Troy Messenger published a follow-up story on Mallory Chandler, a Troy, Alabama, toddler who became ill with an 
FSIS announced today that the National Advisory Committee on Meat and Poultry Inspection will hold public meetings to discuss issues related to how data is handled and public health-based inspection.
Researchers at the University of Minnesota and the University of Nebraska have found that from June through September up to 10 percent to 20 percent of all cattle may test positive for the microbe, which is harmless to cows. In winter, the number of 
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.
Several reports indicate that 7 people who became ill with 
The California Department of Food and Agriculture today announced that members of the California Leafy Greens Handler Marketing Agreement can begin using a service mark on July 23. The service mark certifies membership in the LGMA program, and "indicates a handler's commitment to a set of Good Agricultural Practices audited by the LGMA."
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 
The California Assembly Agriculture Committee defeated Senate Bill 202, and did not vote on Senate Bills 200 and 201, all bills introduced by California Senator Dean Florez. The bills were introduced in response to last year's 
A 22-month-old child has been hospitalized with 
Two Vermont children have been hospitalized in Boston with hemolytic uremic syndrome secondary to 
A first grade student from Hackensack, Bergen County, New Jersey died Thursday after suffering from an 
Federal prosecutors have decided against charging companies involved in the September 2006 
Two children in Yankton County have been diagnosed with E. coli infections. Although a source has not yet been reported, KXMC reports that health officials are working to determine common exposures between the two children who have been diagnosed.
Chris Waldrop, director of the Consumer Federation of America's Food Policy Institute in Washington, D.C. sees a disturbing return:
The first lawsuit stemming from an 
A lawsuit has been filed 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 
The latest technology allowed scientists at the Colorado Department of Health and Environment to link a pair of illnesses in Denver to the same 
The Arizona Department of Health Services has identified another case of 
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 
Lab tests have confirmed four cases of 
Senators have approved a three-bill package by Sen. Dean Florez, giving state health regulators power to set standards for growing and processing leafy produce, including spinach and lettuce, and to set up an inspection program with state agricultural officials.
Four cases of
United Food Group, LLC, a Vernon, California, establishment, is voluntarily expanding its recall of ground beef products because they may be contaminated with 
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.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have announced that the incidence of 
Dee Creek Farms, the Washington dairy that was the source of an 
The number of confirmed cases linked to an 
Health officials have identified two additional people who tested positive for 
KFSN-TV reported that health officials are investigating 20 reported 
Summer grilling season brings more awareness of 
With Memorial Day being the official start of grilling season, the International Food Safety Network highlights the importance of cooking foods to an internal temperature hot enough to kill pathogens like 
An E. coli outbreak may be ongoing in Montgomery and Fulton Counties in New York.
A salad could be one of the riskiest foods on American tables right now, according to New York Times Op/Ed columnist Paul Krugman.
Marler Clark client Teresa Kaiser was recently interviewed by CNN regarding her E. coli infection.
A settlement has been announced involving lawsuits filed against the Florida Strawberry Festival.
Marler Clark client Elizabeth Armstrong testified in front of the US House Energy & Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations in regards to food safety.
Barbara Kowalcyk and her husband, Michael, were propelled into food safety advocacy in 2001, when their two-year-old son, Kevin, died after suffering an 
The Kern County Health Department issued a press release today stating that the investigation into an 
The family of Ashley and Isabella Armstrong, 2 girls affected by 
California health officials continue their investigation into an 
After an E. coli outbreak that sickened at least three children, St. Helena Little League will no longer serve hamburgers at concession stands during games.
The Maine Department of Agriculture announced that Bubier Meats is recalling meat products for potential 
A vaccine is being produced by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) that is designed to prevent E. coli infection in humans, according to the New York Times. A vaccine is also being produced by Bionishe, a Canadian company, that is designed to reduce the number of 
Hoss's, a restaurant chain that operates restaurants in Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia, has changed meat suppliers after an 
The families of three octogenarian women whose deaths were linked to last year's 
The House Committee on Energy and Commerce today addressed food safety at its Oversight and Investigations subcommittee today on Capitol Hill. Three families whose members suffered food poisoning after eating contaminated food sent representatives to testify in front of the committee, as did companies whose products were responsible for large foodborne illness outbreaks.
AP reported that the company that distributed hamburger patties believed to have sickened at least three children with 
The CDC today released its preliminary 2006 food-borne illness data from California, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Maryland, Minnesota, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, and Tennessee. A total of 17,252 confirmed cases of food-borne illness were reported in those states in 2006, according to the CDC.
E. coli and salmonella infections are on the rise in the United States, but other foodborne illnesses appear to have leveled off, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have reported.
According to KNBC News, a 15th person has tested positive for an 
The largest 
A girl hospitalized with an 
A 12-year-old girl remained in intensive care Wednesday after being infected with the 
An 
As California spinach producers began harvesting their crops this week, legislators, consumers, and health officials discussed the possibility of another 
Dateline NBC reported on fresh food contamination, with emphasis on fresh spinach and lettuce grown in California, and whether irradiation is the answer to ensuring our fresh produce is safe.
The Oregonian recently profiled Bill Marler, a lawyer from Seattle who began representing victims of E. coli and other foodborne illness outbreaks in 1993 during the Jack in the Box 
Lily-Rose, the daughter of Johnny Depp and his longtime partner Vanessa Paradis, is said to survive a battle with the deadly 
The California Department of Health Services and the FDA have released their final report on the spinach E. coli outbreak.
The addition of $25 million of funding for spinach farmers who lost revenue during last year's spinach recall is affecting those victims of the 
Darryl Howard, the son of Betty Howard, a Richland, Washington, resident who died after contracting 
Microbiology researchers trying to uncover the secret of the success of the dangerous food poisoning bacterium 
Senator Dean Florez has criticized the California Department of Health Services after the department refused to release its report on September's deadly 
Fresh spinach that sparked a nationwide 
Yum Brands Inc. said Wednesday that 11 lawsuits have been filed against the company and its Taco Bell Corp. subsidiary for an 
Salinas-area lawmakers this year have focused their bills on everything from preventing future 
BJ's Wholesale Club Inc., the third-largest U.S. warehouse retailer, said a batch of mushrooms it recalled this week wasn't contaminated with 
BJ's Wholesale Club showed extreme caution when it learned that some of its store-brand mushrooms might be contaminated with 
Scientists from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana have found that people employed in chimpanzee-focused research and tourism in a park in western Uganda are exchanging gastrointestinal bacteria - specifically 
BJ's Wholesale Club has announced a mushroom recall.