Huntsville, Alabama, E. coli outbreak traced to lettuce
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. At this point, 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.
Huntsville Times reporter Steve Doyle reported on the Huntsville E. coli outbreak today:
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.
In other E. coli news, at least 70 inmates at a correctional facility in Colorado have become ill with E. coli. According to an article in the Denver Post:
On Friday, a few inmates complained of abdominal cramping, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting and bloody stools. The number grew over the weekend, with more cases identified Tuesday during the ongoing investigation.Nine inmates have been sent to the hospital for treatment, with one remaining hospitalized. Thirty-seven are still sick.
"We want an answer" on the bacteria's source, said Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Jacki Kelley. "We don't want this to happen again."
Those who are sick have been separated from other inmates and are being given fluids and medications.
