On September 12, 2005 Public Health Seattle King County received an unusual number of E. coli O157:H7 reports. Case interviews by county investigators subsequently revealed that three unrelated residents of King County and one Pierce County resident had all eaten at the same Olive Garden restaurant in Federal Way on September 1, 2005. All four cases became ill on September 5, and two were hospitalized. Detailed food histories were obtained. The common foods consumed by the four ill individuals were the house salad and fresh parsley used either as a topping or as an ingredient in entrees. Pulsed field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) analysis of isolates obtained from patients’ stool cultures was conducted at the Washington Department of Health (WDOH) Public Health Laboratory (PHL). Results showed that all four patients were infected with the same strain of E. coli O157:H7 and shared indistinguishable PFGE patterns derived from restriction by two enzymes. The WDOH PHL assigned state identification number EC472 to the outbreak patterns.
Continue Reading The Parsley Outbreak

On June 9, 2005 FSIS issued Recall Notification Report 026-2005, announcing the recall of approximately 63,580 pounds of frozen ground beef patties and meatballs manufactured by Murry’s Inc., a Lebanon, Pennsylvania company. See Recall Notification Report 026-2005, Exhibit No. 1. The recall was deemed a Class I recall and was initiated after the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services (NJDHSS) Public Health Laboratory (PHL) had tested meat obtained from an intact box of Murry’s 100% Pure All Beef Jumbo Beef Patties and found it to be contaminated with Escherichia coli O157:H7 (E. coli O157:H7).
Laboratory testing of Murry’s meat was conducted in response to a report of E. coli O157:H7 in a 51-year-old Burlington County woman who reported eating Murry’s meat several days before onset of symptoms. Ruth Ann Fisher and her boyfriend, Jason, had purchased boxes of Murry’s Jumbo Beef Patties from the McGuire Air Force Base commissary in February 2005. On April 6, 2005 the couple cooked three patties from one box. Two days later Ms. Fisher experienced onset of diarrhea. Eventually she was hospitalized for six days and was laboratory confirmed to be infected with E. coli O157:H7.Continue Reading Murry’s Meat E. coli Recall

On September 7, 2005 Rebecca O’Donnell, Infection Control Nurse at the Albany Medical Center Hospital, informed Marcia Fabiano at the Albany County Health Department (ACHD) that Erika Boehlke was hospitalized at AMCH with a diagnosis of Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (HUS). Preliminary laboratory testing of Erika’s stool had been conducted at St. Peter’s Hospital, and tests were negative for the presence of E. coli O157:H7. Ms. Fabiano arranged for Erika’s specimen to be sent to the New York State Department of Health (NYSDH) Wadsworth Center for more definitive testing.
On September 12 Ms. Fabiano spoke with Erika’s parents, who were at their daughter’s side at the hospital. Mr. and Mrs. Boehlke agreed to be interviewed at the hospital on September 14. Janet Christensen, ACHD staff person, conducted the interview, completing a standardized questionnaire, “E. coli O157:H7 and Shiga-toxin Related Disease Questionnaire.” During the interview, investigators learned that on August 26 Erika had consumed a Topps brand quarter pound beef patty cooked on the grill at home. Most of the patties that came in the package of 12 frozen hamburgers had been eaten. Two uncooked patties, however, were still in the Boehlke’s freezer. Ms. Christensen said the NYSDOH would want to test the leftover meat for E. coli O157:H7, a test that became critically important the next day when the Wadsworth Center bacteriology lab verbally confirmed to the Albany County Health Department that E. coli O157:H7 had been isolated in Erika’s stool specimen. Written confirmation of the positive result would follow on September 21, 2005.Continue Reading Topps Meat E. coli Outbreak

On September 14, 2005 the Concord Hospital laboratory submitted an E. coli O157:H7 isolate to the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services (NHDHHS) Public Health Laboratory (PHL) for confirmatory testing. The isolate had been cultured from a stool sample obtained from Hercules Tsirovakas. The next day the Communicable Disease Control and Surveillance section at NHDHHS received a facsimile from the Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center notifying them that transfer patient, Hercules Tsirovakas, was infected with E. coli O157:H7. The NHDHHS PHL issued a laboratory report confirming the diagnosis on September 16.
Continue Reading THE INVESTIGATION INTO HERCULES’ CASE

E. coli O157:H7 outbreaks associated with lettuce or spinach, specifically the “pre-washed” and “ready-to-eat” varieties sold under various brand and trade names, are by no means a new phenomenon. In October 2003, 13 residents of a California retirement center were sickened and 2 died after eating E. coli-contaminated “pre-washed” spinach. In September 2003, nearly 40 patrons of a California restaurant chain became ill after eating salads prepared with bagged, “pre-washed” lettuce. In July 2002, over 50 young women were stricken with E. coli at a dance camp after eating “pre-washed” lettuce, leaving several hospitalized and one with life-long kidney damage. The Center for Science in the Public Interest found that, of 225 food-poisoning outbreaks from 1990 to 1998, nearly 20 percent (55 outbreaks) were linked to fresh fruits, vegetables, or salads.
It is clear that the risks associated with E. coli O157:H7 and lettuce were well known to Dole and the industry prior to the 2005 outbreak. For some time prior to the outbreak, the FDA had been aggressively trying to get the industry to address serious deficiencies that were creating a critical risk to consumers. The response by Dole and many of its industry brethren was woefully inadequate.Continue Reading Dole E. coli LETTUCE OUTBREAKS