E Coli Lawyer & Attorney : Marler Clark Law Firm : E. coli Blog

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 E. coli.

American Foods Group of Green Bay, Wisc. issued the recall on products produced in October and reportedly shipped to retailers and distributors in seven states including Kentucky, Indiana, Maryland, Ohio, Tennessee, Wisconsin and Virginia.

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A first grade student from Hackensack, Bergen County, New Jersey died Thursday after suffering from an E. coli infection.

Health officials are investigating the source of the child's illness, but have yet to find the source.  Jackson Avenue School sent a letter home to parents, alerting them of the child's illness and death, and notifying parents that health officials had not found reason to believe the child contracted E. coli at school.

"We are very confident at this point based on the information they provided us that this is an isolated incident and there is no need for concern," Hackensack Superintendent Dr. Joseph Montesano told CBS 2 HD.
 

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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 E. coli O157:H7 infection and hemolytic uremic syndrome.

Barbara served on the Board of Directors for S.T.O.P. (Safe Tables Our Priority) for several years, and recently formed the Center for Foodborne Illness Research and Prevention (CFI).

The Kowalcyks had limited knowledge of foodborne illness before their son got sick. The family lived in Wisconsin at the time. They now live in Loveland, Ohio, near Cincinnati.

"Our public health department didn't have the resources or, frankly, the desire to spend a lot of time investigating our case because it wasn't part of an outbreak," Kowalcyk said. "They did very little to help us. We only found out what we did because we contacted an attorney and he worked on our case.
 

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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.”
 

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The Minnesota Department of Health has been investigating an E. coli outbreak that was the source of 17 confirmed illnesses and one death. MDOH suspects that at least 30 people were ill with E. coli infections, but that not all cases were confirmed through laboratory testing.

A report in the Pioneer Press noted that this latest E. coli outbreak caused the first E. coli-related death in Minnesota since 2002.

“We think primarily what happened was there were a number of illnesses associated with eating potato salad or another cold salad that became cross-contaminated with the ground beef that was used to make meatballs,” said Doug Schultz, a spokesman for the Minnesota Department of Health. Those preparing the food probably used the same utensils or cutting board for the potatoes as for the beef.

Health investigators were initially perplexed by the outbreak, Schultz said. People from the church were sick, but so was a group of people who did not attend the event.

The investigators eventually traced the contamination to E. coli that had been discovered during a routine federal inspection of a Nebraska meatpacker. A distributor bought beef from that plant and sold it to a Longville grocer, who in turn sold the beef to a local restaurant as well as the organizers of the church event. The victims who weren't infected at the church all had eaten at the same restaurant.
 

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A woman from Longville, Minnesota, who apparently ate contaminated food at a church supper, has become the first Minnesotan recorded as dying of E. coli complications in at least three and a half years, according to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.

Services will be held today for Carolyn Hawkinson, right, 73, at Salem Lutheran Church in Longville, where the meal was served July 19.

Hawkinson, who died Sunday after nearly a month in hospitals, had helped set up for the church supper the day before it was held, her daughter said.

In the past six weeks, E. coli has sickened at least 17 people and perhaps as many as 30 around Longville, the Minnesota Department of Health reported Tuesday. Nine people were hospitalized, including Hawkinson and one other with serious complications.
 

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A two-year-old girl died in Scotland after contracting a strain of the severe stomach bug E. coli, according to Guardian Unlimited.

The toddler died over the weekend after being admitted to Glasgow's Royal Hospital for Sick Children, suffering from what is understood to have been E. coli O157:H7. Locals confirmed her death this afternoon.

Two other children from the Dumfries and Galloway area, whose family had contact with the girl, also tested positive for E coli. Both children were admitted to Dumfries and Galloway Royal Infirmary at the weekend but have since been discharged.

The incubation period for E coli O157 is usually up to 14 days and symptoms can include diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, stomach pain and fever.

A spokesman for the Scottish executive said: "We are aware of these cases and are being kept informed by the relevant NHS boards. Our thoughts are with the families of the young children concerned."

Dr Carol Davidson, director of public health at NHS Ayrshire and Arran, said: "Investigations into the source of the infection are ongoing, but at the moment we have no reason to believe that others outside the families affected and their contacts are at any increased risk. Our thoughts are with the families involved during this very difficult time."
 

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