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NPR – News & Notes, October 13, 2006
Spinach, tainted by E. coli bacteria, has reportedly made about 200 people in two dozen states sick. At least three people are said to have died from the outbreak. Lawmakers and advocates are demanding federal authorities do more to eliminate the contamination. Farai
According to FREDERIC J. FROMMER of the Associated Press, Federal officials refused to tell Minnesota authorities which of two beef plants were linked to a fatal E. coli outbreak last summer, according to a state report. One woman died and at least 17 people were sickened from the E. coli outbreak in the Longville
FDA Statement on Foodborne E. coli O157:H7 Outbreak in Spinach
Positive Test Results
FDA and the State of California announced today that test results from the field investigation of the outbreak of E. coli O157:H7 in spinach are positive for E. coli O157:H7. Samples of cattle feces on one of the implicated ranches tested positive
More thoughts on yesterday’s hearing:
I have concerns despite the 4 deaths and over 200 illnesses that some politicians may simply fiddle while more spinach and lettuce is grown and more customers are sickened and more businesses go bankrupt (watch for that next). Yesterday’s hearing was more telling by who did not attend – most
Andrew Weeks of the Standard-Examiner reports that at least five more people, two of them children, have contracted E. coli from an unknown source in Weber County, according to officials from the Weber-Morgan Health Department. No common food source has been linked to the bacteria, though officials say there seem to be no ties to
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that each year 76 million – or one out of every four – Americans are sickened as a result of consuming contaminated foods or beverages. Some become seriously ill; 325,000 require hospitalization and 5,000 die. Older adults, young children, and those who have weakened immune systems are particularly vulnerable.
More than 250 different foodborne diseases have been identified. Most of these diseases are infections caused by a variety of bacteria, viruses, and parasites.
Foods that are contaminated with poisonous chemicals or harmful substances can also cause illness. Symptoms of foodborne illness vary by disease but the most common are nausea, vomiting, abdominal cramps, and diarrhea.Continue Reading Foodborne Illness
Tampa Tribune writer Dave Nicholson has also chimed in on our lawsuit filed on behalf of Diana Walker, a Pinellas County woman who was hospitalized for 16 days due to complications from an E. coli 0157:H7 infection after a visit to the Florida Strawberry Festival.
As the Tampa Tribune reported, health officials say at least
ABC Action News has also reported on Marler Clark’s lawsuit filed on behalf of Diana Walters, who was infected with E. coli at the Strawberry Festival in Plant City earlier this year. From ABC’s article:
Diana Walters is now home from the hospital, but she told Action News reporter Don Germaise that she’s afraid she’ll never be the same.
“At one point, I knew for sure I was going to die,” she explained.
Diana’s speech is still slurred from her near-death experience six weeks ago. She spent 16 days in the hospital, including nine in intensive care after contracting the infection.
Continue Reading St. Petersburg woman is latest to file lawsuit over petting zoo infection
A seventh child in central Florida has contracted a life-threatening kidney infection after visiting a petting zoo in Orlando. Five of the seven children were hospitalized in critical condition, including one on dialysis, the Orlando Sentinel reported for Thursday editions. Another had been upgraded to stable condition, said Dr. Mehul Dixit, who is treating some
A rise in the number of Escherichia coli cases requires diligent detection efforts.
By Debby Giusti, MT(ASCP)
Ten-year-old Brianne Kiner spent 40 days in a coma in 1993, while teams of medical personnel worked round-the-clock to keep her alive. Brianne has little memory of the 118 days she was on kidney dialysis or the 80 units of blood she received, nor does she recall the numerous times the doctors told her mother that Brianne wouldn’t live through the night. What Brianne does remember is that her hospital ordeal left her with the dubious recognition of being the sickest child in the United States to survive Escherichia coli 0157:H7.
Over a 3-month period, more than 700 children and adults in four states in the northwest became ill after eating at various Jack in the Box restaurants. They suffered severe stomach cramps and diarrhea, often bloody, and close to 200 of the ill had to be hospitalized. Fifty-five cases progressed into hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), a condition that can lead to kidney failure and even death. Children and the elderly are most at risk for HUS, and in the 1993 outbreak, four children died.
Epidemiologists quickly recognized that those infected had eaten undercooked hamburgers served at more than 90 Jack in the Box restaurants in the four state area.2 The beef shipped to the restaurants was found to be contaminated with E. coli 0157, and to date, the outbreak remains the largest in U.S. history caused by the organism.Continue Reading E. coli’s Insidious Spread
