Personal Injury Law

Summer Cookout - "I'll just have the bun please."

By Bill Marler, Esq.

E. coli O157:H7 Outbreak Linked to Kroger Hamburger

35 confirmed cases of E. coli O157:H7 have been linked both epidemiologically and by molecular fingerprinting to this outbreak, 17 in Michigan and 18 in Ohio. Onset of illness in these patients occurred from 5/30/08 to 6/14/08. Nineteen 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 been reported. Twenty-two (63%) of patients are female. Patients range in age from 4 to 78 years with a median age of 22 years.

Salmonella Saintpaul Outbreak Linked to ?

An initial epidemiologic investigation comparing foods eaten by ill and well persons identified consumption of raw tomatoes as strongly linked to illness. Recently, many clusters of illnesses have been identified in Texas and other states among persons who ate at restaurants. These clusters have led us to broaden the investigation to be sure that it encompasses food items that are commonly consumed with tomatoes. 851 persons infected with Salmonella Saintpaul with the same genetic fingerprint have been identified in 36 states and the District of Columbia. These were identified because clinical laboratories in all states send Salmonella strains from ill persons to their State public health laboratory for characterization. The number of ill persons identified in each state is as follows: Arkansas (10 persons), Arizona (39), California (10), Colorado (11), Connecticut (4), Florida (1), Georgia (18), Idaho (3), Illinois (91), Indiana (11), Kansas (14), Kentucky (1), Maine (1), Maryland (29), Massachusetts (21), Michigan (6), Minnesota (2), Missouri (12), New Hampshire (3), Nevada (4), New Jersey (4), New Mexico (90), New York (26), North Carolina (5), Ohio (6), Oklahoma (19), Oregon (10), Pennsylvania (8), Rhode Island (3), Tennessee (6), Texas (346), Utah (2), Virginia (22), Vermont (2), Washington (4), Wisconsin (6), and the District of Columbia (1). Among the 581 persons with information available, illnesses began between April 10 and June 20, 2008, including 173 who became ill on June 1 or later.

Full post as published by Marler Blog on July 01, 2008 (boomark / email).