CA Raw Milk Outbreak Traced to Organic Pastures Dairy
The California raw milk outbreak that sickened five children last year, sending three of them to the hospital with E. coli HUS kidney failure, has been traced definitively to Organic Pastures Dairy of Fresno County.
Ten swabs taken from various surfaces at the facility tested positive for E. coli O157:H7. Two of them had the same, identical DNA fingerprint of the strain that sickened the kids. The results were relayed to farm officials in a letter from the California Department of Public Health that became public this week. An offical at the farm was quoted by the Associated Press as saying they accept the findings but are puzzled by the location of the germs — away from milk production areas.
The Organic Pastures E. coli outbreak prompted state officials last year to quarantine the operation’s raw milk products for about a month. All five children had consumed raw, unpasteurized milk from the company, which made the farm the likely source of the outbreak. The quarantine was lifted December 16 after sanitation requirements were fulfilled.
Raw milk has been found to contain numerous pathogens that can cause serious illness, including Campylobacter, Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli, Salmonella, Listeria, Yersinia and Brucella and the bacteria that cause bovine tuberculosis. Pasteurization was developed many years ago as a way to reduce diseases that were commonly caused by raw milk, but the practice of selling raw milk has continued at great risk to consumers.
If your child has been diagnosed with a an E. coli infection after drinking Organic Pastures raw milk, you may have a claim against Organic Pastures for your medical expenses, lost wages, pain and suffering, emotional distress and other damages. Contact our attorneys for a free consultation.
Ill Restaurant Worker Causes E. coli Outbreak in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula at Christmas
With an ill restaurant worker causing an E. coli O157:H7 outbreak in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, in Houghton, questions arise about regulations concerning training, management and responsibility for eliminating the risky practice of sending a contagious person into work in any food establishment.
E. coli lawyer Fred Pritzker is investigating The Ambassador restaurant E. coli outbreak that sickened at least seven people, including four who were hospitalized. The infected customers ate at the restaurant around Christmas. Others who became ill with diarrhea after eating at the restaurant are encouraged to report their experience to an attorney or the Western Upper Peninsula Health Department.
E. coli O157:H7, the pathogen transmitted by the restaurant worker, is a potentially deadly bacterium that causes hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) or thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP). Both of these diseases shut down a person’s kidneys and can lead to other severe illness, including strokes, anemia, heart attack and paralysis.
A study on file with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows that transmission of pathogens from food workers to the food they handle is implicated as a contributing factor in approximately 20 percent of foodborne illness outbreaks. The study authors interviewed food workers in nine states and found that 12 percent of them had worked while suffering from vomiting or diarrhea on two or more shifts in the previous year. Factors associated with workers having worked while experiencing vomiting or diarrhea were:
- High volume of meals served.
- Lack of policies requiring workers to report illness to managers.
- Lack of on-call workers.
- Lack of manager experience.
The findings of this study and others suggest that policies that encourage workers to tell managers when they are ill can help mitigate pressures to work.
Regulations vary with jurisdictions, but it is the responsibility of restaurant owners to train staff members to stay away from work while they are sick. In cases where the workers are confirmed to be infected with E. coli, Salmonella, Shigella or Hepatitis A, they should be tested by a health care provider before they are cleared to return to work.
Any Ambassador E. coli lawsuit stemming from this outbreak will examine what policies were in place at the restaurant and whether reporting mandates from the local or state health departments were followed.
If you or a loved on was sickened in this outbreak, call Mr. Pritzker at 1-888-377-8900 or leave your contact information and he or another attorney from the firm will call you. The law firm he founded, Pritzker Olsen Attorneys, is one of the very few legal groups in the country practicing extensively in the area of foodborne illness litigation. We have collected millions for victims of restaurant outbreaks and have represented Michigan and Wisconsin clients in numerous cases. Our law firm does not charge its clients until a claim is won for them.
Houghton’s Ambassador Restaurant Linked to Michigan Upper Peninsula E. coli Outbreak
Four people were hospitalized with severe food poisoning infections in an outbreak of E. coli O157:H7 that health officials have linked to an ill food-handler at a restaurant in Houghton, Michigan. At least three others also were sickened and authorities suspect there could be more people who ate at The Ambassador and became ill over the Christmas holiday.
That’s when the cluster of E. coli infections was noticed and investigated. The results of the probe will be important to any E. coli lawsuit filed on behalf of victims. Free case consultations are available at PritzkerOlsen, P.A., one of the very few legal groups in the country practicing extensively in the area of foodborne illness. Leave your contact information for an attorney or call 1-888-377-8900 (Toll Free). Our firm has collected millions for victims of E. coli restaurant outbreaks and has represented consumers in previous Michigan outbreaks of foodborne illness.
The Ambassador’s outbreak was announced by Dr. Terry Frankovich, an area medical director. The public health investigation is being conducted by the Western Upper Peninsula Health Department, she said, and officials suspect others could have become ill and not realized they were part of an outbreak.
The Ambassador has remained open for business and has been working in cooperation with authorities. E. coli O157:H7 is a feared pathogen that can cause life-threatening hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), which happens in about 8 percent of cases. HUS victims lose kidney function and often require blood transfusions. HUS also can cause stroke, heart attack, attacks on the central nervous system and severe anemia.
Studies have shown that even mild E. coli infections can carry negative health reprecussions throughout a person’s life. A good E. coli lawyer will seek claim compensation full enough to fairly cover victims for all past and future harms.
Lawyer for NC State Fair E. coli Victims Studying What Safeguards Were in Place to Protect Kids, Adults
Despite the obvious risk of E. coli transmission, a quarter of the people who attended livestock exhibits at the North Carolina State Fair had physical contact with the animals in a setting that gave way to an outbreak of E. coli O157:H7 that hospitalized eight people.
Four of those victims suffered a life-threatening complication of the infection known as hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), a disease that shuts down a person’s kidneys and can lead to stroke, heart attack and central nervous system damage.
HUS E. coli lawyers from Pritzker Olsen Attorneys have been in contact with families affected by this dangerous spread of bacteria. Our attorneys are conducting an investigation of what preventive measures were in place to stop the spread of pathogens that are well known risks at fairs, shows and petting zoos.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said this week that some measures were in place, but a North Carolina task force is also studying the extent of prevention.
Twenty-five case patients got sick between October 16–25. Fair officials were notified a day after the fair ended in Raleigh that four people were confirmed to have infections from the same strain of E. coli. In all, approximately 1 million visitors had attended the fair.
According to the CDC, the only exposure associated with illness was having visited one of the permanent structures in which sheep, goats, and pigs were housed for livestock competitions. “Fair attendees were not intended to have physical contact with animals in the building; however, 25 percent of case-patients (three of 12) and 24 percent of control subjects (five of 21) who visited the building reported direct contact with animals.”
The report noted that a previous E. coli outbreak was linked to a petting zoo at the 2004 North Carolina State Fair, resulting in 187 illness, 15 of which were complicated by HUS. The 2004 outbreak led to the passage of Aedin’s Law in North Carolina, which created regulations for exhibitions housing animals intended for physical contact. The CDC report said the 2011 animal exhibits didn’t fall under the law, but nonetheless some prevention measures were adopted from national guidelines that apply to having animals in public settings.
If you or a loved one has been sickened in this outbreak, contact Pritzker Olsen for a free case consultation by leaving your contact information or calling 1-888-377-8900 (Toll Free). A State Fair E. coli lawsuit will consider why the safety and well-being of children and others was not adequately protected.
Pritzker Olsen is a national food safety law firm with many years of experience in outbreak investigations and E. coli litigation. We have won tens of millions of dollars over the years for those who have been harmed by negligence. Our firm also is actively involved in multiple efforts to prevent the spread of pathogens that cause foodborne illness. Outbreaks are preventable and legal action, in our experience, is a meaningful agent for systematic change.
The Year in E. coli: Lettuce, strawberries, ground beef, hazelnuts, raw milk, sprouts and more
Fenugreek sprouts mainly eaten on salads caused what is believed to be the largest outbreak on record of E. coli poisoning, killing 50 people in 15 countries and sickening more than 4,000 others. The outbreak was centered in Germany, but the scale was so large the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a special travelers’ alert and explanation.
The organism at the root of the European sprouts outbreak was new, dubbed E. coli O104:H4, and it followed an unusual pattern by mainly affecting adults (instead of young children and the elderly) and taking longer to exhibit symptoms — eight days instead of three or four.
In 2011, the only other outbreak of foodborne illness that came close to being as destructive was the cantaloupe Listeria outbreak that killed 31 people in the U.S. But there were plenty of other highlights in the realm of shiga-toxin producing E. coli. Here is a breakdown of the larger outbreaks provided by the E. coli lawyers at Pritzker Olsen Attorneys. Our firm represents victims of E. coli poisoning across the country and has collected tens of millions of dollars in recoveries for individuals and families who become sick through no fault of their own:
In October, state and federal public health officials discovered that leaves of romaine lettuce served at certain grocery store salad bars in Missouri were associated with a growing number of infections of E. coli O157:H7. When the investigation matured, officials had traced the source of the outbreak to a single farm whose lettuce also was linked to illnesses at university campuses in Minnesota and Missouri. At least 60 people were sickened in 10 states. Missouri was hit hardest and lawsuits have been filed there against Schnucks supermarket chain.
Though it did not go down as a multi-state outbreak tracked publicly by the CDC, the E. coli O157:H7 outbreak that sickened attendees of the North Carolina State Fair was exceptionally big and was ultimately traced to one of the fair’s livestock exhibits. At least twenty-seven people were infected.
In August, at least nine people fell ill and one died in another single-state outbreak of toxic E. coli. The illnesses were linked to contaminated strawberries from Oregon’s Jaquith Starwberry Farm.
Ground beef is perenially one of the most common carriers of shiga toxin-producing E. coli and 2011 included a number of large recalls of E. coli-tainted hamburger. In September, Ohio state health authorities reported a cluster of E. coli O157:H7 illnesses in Butler County. An investigation led to the recall of 131,300 pounds of ground beef products from Tyson Fresh Meats Inc., of Emporia, Kansas.
A similar situation occurred in Michigan in July when E. coli O157 was linked to eating ground beef processed and distributed by McNees Meats and Wholesale LLC, a North Branch, Michigan, establishment. A total of five confirmed Shiga-toxin producing E. coli cases and four probable cases were reported in Lapeer, Genesee, Isabella, and Sanilac counties.
Also in July, health officials in Pennsylvania were notified of an outbreak of E. coli O157:H7 among swimmers at Cowans Gap State Park near Chambersberg. At least 14 people became infected and the beach was closed for the remainder of the season. At least five of the case patients developed potentially deadly hemolytic uremic children (HUS), a complication including kidney failure that most often affects children under age five and the elderly or immuno-compromised.
In California, the state quarantined and recalled raw milk from Organic Pastures in Fresno County following a notification from the California Department of Public Health that a cluster of five children were infected, from August through October, with the same strain of E. coli O157:H7 as was found in the milk. The children are residents of Contra Costa, Kings, Sacramento, and San Diego counties.
Pennsylvania, Maryland, New Jersey, North Carolina and Ohio combined in March to confirm 14 cases of E. coli O157:H7 all from the same strain. An investigation involving federal agencies associated the outbreak with Lebanon bologna — a semi-dry sausage that appears similar to salami. As a result, Palmyra Bologna Company, of Palmyra, Pennsylvania, recalled approximately 23,000 pounds of Lebanon bologna products that may have been contaminated with E. coli 0157:H7.
In-shell hazelnuts were implicated in 2011′s first outbreak of E. coli. People in several states had fallen ill starting in December and continuing through Valentine’s Day. As April 1, 2011, eight persons were infected with the outbreak strain of E. coli O157:H7 were reported from Michigan (1), Minnesota (3), and Wisconsin (4). The investigation led to a recall of bulk and consumer-packaged in-shell hazelnuts sold by DeFranco & Sons of Los Angeles. The nuts were sold by retailers nationwide.
Romaine Lettuce From Salad Bars At St Louis Schnucks Stores, Minnesota and Missouri Universities Linked to 60-Person E. coli Outbreak
Romaine Lettuce is the likely source of an E. coli outbreak that sickened 60 people in 10 states, according to a report 
from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The outbreak, which initially was thought to have stricken 37 salad bar customers at Schnucks grocery stores in the St. Louis area, was linked to a single lot of Romaine lettuce grown on a California farm.
The search for the source has been ongoing sine the outbreak began on October 10. Because multiple tests at various Schnucks locations never revealed the presence of E.coli, the federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) expanded the traceback investigation to include suppliers and distributors of the grocery chain.
Working with several state agencies, the FDA conducted traceback investigations for romaine lettuce to try to identify the source of contamination. Traceback analysis determined that a single common lot of romaine lettuce harvested from a California farm was used to supply the Schnucks grocery store chain as well as the university campus in Minnesota during the time of the illnesses. The same lot was also provided to a distributor that supplied lettuce to the university campus in Missouri, but records were not sufficient to determine if this lot was sent to this university campus.
As of November 30, 2011, 60 people had been infected with the same strain of E. coli 0157:H7. The confirmed illnesses by state are as follows: Arizona (1), Arkansas (2), Georgia (1), Illinois (9), Indiana (2), Kansas (3), Kentucky (1), Minnesota (3), Missouri (37), and Nebraska (1).
An E.coli infection can create serious illness. Most people infected with E. coli O157:H7 develop bloody diarrhea and abdominal cramps 2-8 days after swallowing the organism, but some illnesses last longer and are more severe. A type of kidney failure called hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) can begin as the diarrhea is improving; this condition can occur among persons of any age but is most common in children under 5 years old and the elderly. Signs and symptoms of HUS may include fever, abdominal pain, pale skin tone, fatigue and irritability, small, unexplained bruises or bleeding from the nose and mouth, decreased urination, and swelling of the face, hands, feet, or entire body. Persons who experience these symptoms and believe they are at risk for HUS should seek emergency medical care immediately.
Anyone with legal questions about an illness or hospitalization associated with this outbreak should contact the foodborne illness attorneys at PritzkerOlsen for a free consultation.
