A Village of Belgium E. coli outbreak in Ozaukee County, Wisconsin, is being investigated by public health officials.
Fox 6 News of Milwaukee reports that several children, all living on Grand Avenue in Belgium, have been stricken by E. coli O157:H7 infection. The station says one 4-year-old spent six weeks at Childrens’ Hospital, receiving dialysis and blood transfusions for a complication known as hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS). A second child now has been hospitalized, Fox 6 reported.
The station interviewed the village president, who said tests for E. coli O157:H7 in the town’s water supply have come back negative and the cause of the outbreak remains a mystery for now.
E. coli o157:H7 is a potentially deadly human pathogen that emits a powerful toxin that causes extremely painful and often bloody diarrhea. In more than 5 percent of cases it develops into hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), a disease that attacks a person’s red blood cells and causes severe illness including kidney failure, strokes, heart problems and other damage.
Children under 5 are the most likely victims of E coli HUS and HUS is the leading cause of child kidney failure. For answers to legal questions about E. coli outbreaks, or if you have confidential information to divulge about the Belgium E. coli outbreak, contact an E. coli lawyer at national food safety law firm Pritzker Olsen at 1-888-377-8900 (Toll Free) or complete our contact form. Our firm is one of the few in the country practicing extensively in the area of foodborne illness litigation and we are actively involved in efforts to prevent E. coli infection and the spread of other food poisonings.
