Schnucks E. coli.jpgAccording to news repots, items purchased at Schnucks salad bars appear to be the source of an E. coli O157:H7 outbreak that has thirty-three region wide, according to a preliminary study conducted by the St. Louis County Health Department. There are reports that the stores involved are located in downtown St. Louis, High Ridge, Ballwin, and Ladue.

“The majority of the cases so far, people went to different Schnucks stores and purchased items off their salad bars,” said St. Louis County health department spokesman John Shelton.

The latest numbers show 33 cases region wide, including 26 in St. Louis County. No one has died and Shelton says none of the illnesses appears to be life threatening.

Investigators with the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta are helping with the investigation. The patients range in age from one year old to 94, Shelton said.

The North Carolina Division of Public Health is investigating 26 cases of E. coli in Wake (14), Sampson (6), Durham (1), Franklin (1), Johnston (1), Orange (1) and Wilson (1) counties. Ten of the cases are confirmed, and 16 are still under investigation. Five people – 4 children and 1 adult – are hospitalized. Twenty-three of the 26 outbreak victims attended the State Fair earlier this month.

4ea95e724b982.preview-300.jpgAccording to the Saint Louis Post-Dispatch, Federal health investigators from the CDC landed in St. Louis Friday to help determine the source and scope of the E. coli outbreak that has so far sickened 23 people across the region.

Local hospitals started reporting E. coli infections on Monday in St. Louis and St. Louis, Jefferson, St. Charles and St. Clair counties.

St. Louis County health officials confirmed that the source of the E. coli O157 strain was food-borne, and there were signs that a local grocery chain may be involved. Schnucks stores across the region voluntarily replaced or removed some lettuce in salad bars, a company spokeswoman said.

Three of the infected people who have been contacted by the Post-Dispatch said they had recently eaten at salad bars from Schnucks stores in downtown St. Louis, Ladue and High Ridge.

Lindsay Schuessler, 25, has been hospitalized at Mercy since Saturday. Doctors there confirmed Schuessler was infected with the E. coli bacteria, her father said. County health officials visited Schuessler’s home in University City and removed some produce including strawberries that she had purchased at Schnucks, Rick Schuessler said.

James Bell, of Florissant, said his 23-year-old daughter, Jasmine, has been hospitalized since Saturday with what hospital and health officials told him was a confirmed E. coli case. Jasmine Bell started feeling sick during the middle of last week. Bell said his daughter ate salads twice last week that she bought at the Schnucks Culinaria store in downtown St. Louis. He said he thinks both of the salads were prepackaged, purchased from the salad and deli section of the store.

All but three of the 26 patients being investigated for E. coli illnesses visited the North Carolina State Fair, state public health officials said today, adding that it is increasingly likely that something at the fair caused the illnesses. Of those cases, tests have confirmed that E. coli caused 10; the rest remain under investigation, Division of Public Health officials said in a statement released today. In addition to the 14 cases in Wake and six in Sampson County, single cases have been identified in Cleveland, Durham, Franklin, Johnston, Orange and Wilson counties. The 26 reported cases are split evenly between children and people older than 18. Five people are in the hospital for treatment, four children and one adult.

The North Carolina Division of Public Health is investigating an E.coli outbreak in Wake County, affecting at least six children and one adult, state health department spokeswoman Renee McCoy said Tuesday.

Four people were hospitalized – two had been discharged and two were in intensive care Tuesday, McCoy said. The state is working with the Wake County Health Department to determine whether the cases are related.

They were still interviewing patients on Tuesday and awaiting the results of lab tests, which should be completed next week, McCoy said.

Public health officials said Thursday that E. coli bacteria have been spreading person-to-person through inadequate hand washing in a Green County outbreak that has killed one and sickened 12 others since mid-July.

No original source of the outbreak has been isolated, and no information has been released about the first case, or the individual who died. Most of those sickened are children younger than 6, according to Green County Health Department Officer RoAnn Warden.

Two elementary school children from Monroe were hospitalized last week with E. coli O157: H7 infections that officials confirmed were the same bacteria strain responsible for the deadly outbreak in this south-central Wisconsin county from mid-July through the first week of September, Warden said Thursday.

The first case in the outbreak was reported in mid-July, followed three weeks later by a second case and a cluster of seven more within several weeks of each other. Two people were hospitalized.

Students infected

Then last week, three students in 4-year-old kindergarten and kindergarten at Lincoln Elementary School in Monroe were confirmed to have the bacterial infection. Two of the three were hospitalized, Warden said. An adult in the same household as one of the three sickened schoolchildren also was confirmed this week to have an E. coli infection, Warden said. The adult has not been hospitalized.

Anyone can become infected by having contact with fecal material from infected people or animals (especially cattle), or by eating contaminated food or water. Symptoms include diarrhea, which often is bloody, and severe abdominal cramps, which typically occur three to four days after exposure to the bacteria.

The investigation so far has not implicated contaminated food or water as the source of the bacterium, Warden said.

It appears that inadequate hand washing after use of the bathroom, or changing a diaper, has spread the bacterium from person to person, Warden said.

Commercial Meat Co., a Los Angeles, Calif., establishment is recalling approximately 377,775 pounds of ground 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.

The following ground beef products are subject to recall:

• 5,10,15,20,30,40,50 and 60 lb. cases of bulk ground beef

• 5,10 and 20 lb. cases of ground beef patties

• 10,15,20,30,40 and 50 lb. cases of ground beef taco

• 5,10,15,20,25,30,40,50 and 60 lb. cases of ground beef chili

Each case bears a label with the establishment number “EST. 4873” inside the USDA mark of inspection. The products subject to recall were produced between Sept. 7, 2011 and Oct. 6, 2011 and were shipped to restaurants in California and Nevada, as well as one Federal establishment in California for further processing.

The problem was discovered through routine FSIS monitoring which confirmed a positive result for E. coli O157:H7. The company did not hold product pending test results, resulting in this recall. FSIS and the company have received no reports of illnesses associated with consumption of these products. Individuals concerned about an illness should contact a healthcare provider.

Manning Beef, LLC, a Pico Rivera, Calif. establishment, is voluntarily recalling approximately 80,000 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.

The following products are subject to recall:

• Combo bins of BroPack Inc Beef Manufacturing Trimmings “65/35, 50/50 or 85/15” produced on Sept. 23, 2011.

• Combo bins of Paso Prime Beef Manufacturing Trimmings “65/35, 50/50 or 85/15” produced on Sept. 23, 2011.

• 30 and 60 lb. boxes of primal cuts, subprimal cuts and boxed beef produced on Sept. 23, 2011.

The establishment is recalling a variety of beef primal and subprimal cuts (such as top round and tri tip) and manufacturing trimmings due, in part, to insanitary conditions as reflected by an unusually high number of confirmed positive E. coli O157:H7 test results conducted by the establishment on the manufacturing trimmings.

Tyson Fresh Meats Inc., an Emporia, Kan. establishment, is recalling approximately 131,300 pounds of ground 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.

The following products are subject to recall:

• 5-pound chubs of Kroger-brand “GROUND BEEF 73% LEAN – 27% FAT,” packed in 40-pound cases containing eight chubs. Cases bear an identifying product code of “D-0211 QW.” These products were produced on Aug. 23, 2011 and were shipped to distribution centers in Ind. and Tenn. for retail sale.

• 3-pound chubs of Butcher’s Brand “GROUND BEEF 73% LEAN – 27% FAT,” packed in 36-pound cases each containing 12 chubs. Cases bear an identifying product code of “D-0211 LWIF.” These products were produced on Aug. 23, 2011 and were shipped to distribution centers in N.C. and S.C. for retail sale.

3-pound chubs of a generic label “GROUND BEEF 73% LEAN – 27% FAT,” packed in 36-pound cases each containing 12 chubs. Cases bear an identifying product code of “D-0211 LWI.” These products were produced on Aug. 23, 2011 and were shipped to distribution centers in Del., Fla., Ga., Md., Ill., Ind., Mo., N.Y., Ohio, Tenn., Texas and Wis. for retail sale.

The products subject to recall have a “BEST BEFORE OR FREEZE BY” date of “SEP 12 2011” and the establishment number “245D” ink jetted along the package seam. When available, the retail distribution list(s) will be posted on FSIS’ website at www.fsis.usda.gov/FSIS_Recalls/Open_Federal_Cases/index.asp.

FSIS and the establishment are concerned that consumers may freeze the product before use and that some product may be in consumers’ freezers. FSIS strongly encourages consumers to check their freezers and immediately discard any product subject to this recall.

FSIS became aware of the problem yesterday (Sept. 26, 2011) when the agency was notified by the Ohio Department of Health of E. coli 0157:H7 illnesses located in Butler County. Illness onset dates range from Sept. 8, through Sept. 11, 2011. The on-going investigation involved collecting leftover ground beef from the patients’ home on Sept. 19 which tested positive for E. coli O157:H7 by the Ohio Department of Agriculture’s laboratory today (Sept. 27).

Palo Duro Meat, an Amarillo, Texas, establishment, is recalling 40,000 pounds of frozen fine ground 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.

The products subject to recall include:

40-lb boxes containing four 10-lb chubs of fine ground beef.

Each case bears “Est. 7282” inside the USDA mark of inspection and a production code of 19110.

The frozen product was produced on Sept. 9, 2011, and shipped to two warehouses in Georgia for further distribution to institutions. The institutions include six school districts in Georgia associated with the National School Lunch Program. The bulk of the product has not left the warehouses and at this time, FSIS is not aware of any product having been served as part of school lunches in the districts.

The problem was discovered by the company after a review of lab results that confirmed a positive result for E. coli O157:H7 on September 22. The problem may have occurred as a result of a sample tracking error that allowed the product in question to be inadvertently shipped into commerce. FSIS and the company have received no reports of illnesses associated with consumption of these products. Individuals concerned about an illness should contact a healthcare provider.