New Jersey Not First E. coli from Tacos nor Taco Bell
Tacos as a source of E. coli are nothing new. We represented 11 children who became ill after eating a taco meal at their school in 1998. Eventually, the case went to trial where after appeals we recovered $6.25 Million - See Finley School Outbreak at www.marlerclark.com.
This mornings New Jersey Ledger has the numbers of ill tied to this new Taco Bell E. coli outbreak at 19, with 2 developing HUS.
From December 04, 2006 Star-Ledger:
2 'life-threatening' E. coli cases arise 19 are infected in Central Jersey
Two people were suffering from "life-threatening" E. coli cases yesterday as the number of confirmed infections in central New Jersey jumped to 19, health officials said. E. coli has sickened residents of eight towns in Middlesex, Somerset and Monmouth counties since the first illness was reported Nov. 17, said David Papi, Middlesex County's health director. Papi called the cases a "significant number." Officials have not pinpointed the cause of the New Jersey outbreak, but 11 of the victims ate at the same Taco Bell on Stelton Road in South Plainfield, Papi said. Two others ate at Taco Bell restaurants in Edison and Franklin Township, in Somerset County. The South Plainfield Taco Bell has voluntarily remained closed since Nov. 30, even though a health inspection found no major health violations, Papi said. Stool test results from 21 employees are expected today, and another three or four samples will be taken, Papi said. A few employees are thought to be traveling. In a statement released yesterday, Taco Bell Corp. spokesman Rob Poetsch said the chain, part of Yum Brands Inc., had taken "every precaution" while cooperating with local authorities.
This is not the first time Taco Bell has been the source of an E. coli outbreak. In a peer reviewed journal - Clinical Infectious Diseases - Published by the University of Chicago Press in 2004, at least 13 people were sickened in 3 states at a "Nation-wide Taco Chain" in 1999 in the San Fransisco Bay area. Title is "A Multistate Outbreak of Escherichia coli O157:H7 Infection Linked to Consumption of Beef Tacos at a Fast-Food Restaurant Chain"
The Author(s) Michele T. Jay, Valerie Garrett, Janet C. Mohle-Boetani, Myra Barros, Jeff A. Farrar, Richard Rios, Sharon Abbott, Rick Sowadsky, Ken Komatsu, Robert Mandrell, Jeremy Sobel, and S. Benson Werner, investigated a multistate outbreak of Escherichia coli O157:H7 infections. Isolates from 13 case patients from California, Nevada, and Arizona were matched by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis subtyping. Five case patients (38%) were hospitalized, and 3 (23%) developed hemolytic uremic syndrome; none died. The median age was 12 years (range, 2-75 years), and 10 (77%) were female. Case-control studies found an association between illness and eating beef tacos at a national Mexican-style fast-food restaurant chain (88% of cases versus 38% of controls; matched OR, undefined; 95% confidence interval, 1.49 to infinity; P=.009). A trace-back investigation implicated an upstream supplier of beef, but a farm investigation was not possible. This outbreak illustrates the value of employing hospital laboratoryn-based surveillance to detect local clusters of infections and the effectiveness of using molecular subtyping to identify geographically dispersed outbreaks. The outbreak investigation also highlights the need for a more efficient tracking system for food products. The article was cited in the Science Blog.
I did find from Dec. 10 /99 a San Francisco Chronicle article that seems to have implicated Taco Bell in an earlier E. coli ourbreak: FOOD POISON CASES BAFFLE INVESTIGATORS E. COLI BACTERIA GENETICALLY LINKED IN 4 COUNTIES
State and federal health investigators are, according to this story, puzzling over 10 cases of dangerous E. coli food poisoning that sickened victims one month ago in four Northern California counties.
The story says that the 10 people made ill by the potentially deadly O157:H7 strain of intestinal bacteria have all recovered‹ including a 5-year-old Hayward girl and an 8-year-old girl from Danville who were hospitalized. All but one of the victims recall having eaten at various Taco Bell restaurants within eight days of their illness, and all 10 cases have been linked genetically to bacteria likely to have originated at a single source.
More news on the recent Taco Bell outbreak from today can be found:
From the Trentonian
From The Home News
From The Daily Record
When in doubt, just say YUM, Inc. - Parent Company of Taco Bell.
