Health Law

Mystery In Dixon And No Plans To Solve It--But Hey You Are OK!

By Marler Clark LLP

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.

Oh, but public health officials involved can assure the public that the county's restaurant food and water is all safe. "Everything is fine, move along!"

The place we are talking about is Solano County, CA where a Dixon boy died Dec. 19th from an E. coli infection. We originally reported on the death here on Dec. 20th.  Without finding the source, public health officials there abandoned their investigation on Dec. 26th.

The county health officer, Dr. Ronald Chapman, says he doesn't know how the Dixon teenager was infected, but there was no contamination of the area's water or restaurant food. He says there's no threat to the public.

The boy's name and age were not disclosed, supposedly for privacy reasons.

Tests showed a second Dixon child who recovered from severe diarrhea was not infected with E. coli. No other cases have been reported.

Chapman says E. coli is present naturally in the intestinal tract and sometimes can enter the blood stream. Symptoms include stomach cramps, diarrhea and vomiting. 

Full post as published by e.Coli Blog on December 28, 2008 (boomark / email).