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.
NC E. coli Outbreak Investigators Survey Fair Attendees
If you attended the 2011 North Carolina State Fair, we encourage you to fill out a mail survey being sent by the North Carolina Division of Public Health. Even if you are not a case patient in the NC State Fair E. coli outbreak, participation in the survey could help those who are.
State health officials are trying to pinpoint what caused at least 25 people to be sickened with a toxic form of E. coli that left at least four children hospitalized with kidney failure and possibly other symptoms of life-threatening hemolytic uremic syndrome, or HUS. E. coli HUS is a complication of E. coli infection that most often affects children under 5.
This outbreak may have been caused by a food contaminated by E. coli or contact with animals at one of the fair’s many exhibits. To help investigators identify the source, they need to talk to some fair attendees who didn’t get sick. If you fill out a survey, you may get a followup call from an E. coli investigator. This is excellent public health service for those who who study outbreaks and try to prevent them.
NC State Fair Lawsuit
E. coli lawyers at national food safety law firm Pritzker Olsen Attorneys are conducting a separate investigation for a North Carolina E. coli lawsuit on behalf of vicitims. Our law firm has collected tens of millions of dollars for E. coli outbreak victims in every corner of the U.S. This complex area of law requires attention to detail and experience in negotiations with meatpackers, food companies, restaurants, event managers and grocery stores who need to be held accountable for any negligence. Experience shows that outbreaks of food poisoning are preventable. For free case consultations, call 1-888-377-8900 (Toll Free) or leave your contact information online and an attorney will call you.
E. coli and HUS Outbreak in Raleigh, NC Area: Lawyers Investigating North Carolina State Fair Link
PritzkerOlsen law firm has successfully represented E. coli victims in North Carolina. Our E. coli lawyers are now available for a free consultation regarding the North Carolina State Fair E. coli investigation. Wake County and North Carolina state health officials have confirmed that 13 children and 13 adults have been sickened by E. coli, and 23 of those sickened visited the North Carolina State Fair. This is solid epidemiological evidence that something at the state fair caused this outbreak of E. coli infections.
Four of the children remain hospitalized, fighting kidney failure and other symptoms of hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS). E. coli HUS is a life-threatening complication of toxic E. coli poisoning that happens most often in children under age 5.
Wake County and North Carolina state health officials are testing environmental samples to determine what food or animals at the fair may have caused the outbreak. Some of the people sickened did not visit the petting zoo or touch animals while at the fair. It could still be animals, though, because the bacteria could have spread throughout the fairgrounds on people’s shoes.
Many of the E. coli victims are from Raleigh. The counties involved include Wake, Sampson, Cleveland, Durham, Johnston, Orange and Wilson.
Investigators also are looking into the possibility of more E. coli illnesses potentially linked to the fair. If you or a loved one has recently experienced bloody diarrhea or other E. coli symptoms, see your health care provider. Make sure to request a stool sample. For answers to legal questions about compensation for present and future harms, call national food safety law firm PritzkerOlsen, P.A. at 1-888-377-8900 (Toll Free) or submit our free consultation form and an attorney will call you.
E. coli Cases Mount in St. Louis County, Missouri
At least 14 people have been poisoned by E. coli in a St. Louis County, Missouri, outbreak of foodborne illness that has health officials working diligently to find the root cause. Missouri state health investigators have teamed with St. Louis County and food poisoning experts have been notified at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The county issued a press release about the outbreak this week.
The outbreak started last week for Jasmine Bell, 23, a downtown St. Louis deli worker who was hospitalized with gastrointestinal illness. Her father, James Bell of Florissant, told a reporter that her case has been confirmed as an E. coli infection and she may be released soon from Christian Hospital in North St. Louis County. So far, traceback efforts have not identified a food source for the outbreak but an epidemiological investigation is in full swing.
Meanwhile, St. Louis area physicians have been alerted to the outbreak and St. Louis County Health Department Director Dr. Dolores J. Gunn is urging parents to take any child who has bloody diarrhea straight to a hospital emergency room. Children under 5 are most at risk for a life-threatening complication of E. coli infection known as E. coli HUS, or hemolytic uremic syndrome. Kidney failure is a hallmark of this disease, but it also can disrupt brain, heart and central nervous system funtions.
E. coli litigation could result from this outbreak in St. Louis County. Pritzker Olsen Attorneys has collected millions of dollars for victims of E. coli and is accepting cases in free consultation at 1-888-377-8900 (Toll Free). Our firm is one of the very few legal groups in the country practicing extensively in the area of foodborne illness litigation and attorney Fred Pritzker, the firm’s founder and president, is frequently quoted in national media reports on the subject.
E. coli O157 Testing For School Kids in Monroe, WI
Diarrhea illness from E. coli 0157:H7 infection is easy to spread among young people in schools or daycare facilities. Because it can be a life-threatening illness, it is important to comply with any testing efforts and keep children home for long periods of time if test results are positive.
In Green County, Wisconsin, about 140 young school children at Abe Lincoln Elementary are currently in the midst of a stool testing protocol to help investigators solve an outbreak of E. coli O157:H7. Three students have been sickened and at least two of them were hospitalized. The outbreak has investigators wondering if the most recent cases stem from the same strain of bacteria that caused a cluster of E. coli O157:H7 illnesses and one death in late August and early September.
The previous outbreak in the area around Monroe was not linked to a source and epidemiologists wonder if food contamination is to blame. If you have been diagnosed with an E. coli 0157:H7 infection in the region around Monroe, a good E. coli lawyer can help you obtain fair compensation from the responsible party. Negligence often is at the root of foodborne E. coli outbreaks and food safety laws provide for fair claims, some greater than $1 million depending on the circumstances and extent of illness.
The Abe Lincoln school outbreak is being investigated by Pritzker Olsen Attorneys and the firm is providing free case consultations to affected families. Send your contact information or call our firm’s offices at 1-888-377-8900 (Toll Free).
Children age 5 and younger are the most vulnerable of any age group to developing life-threatening complications from E. coli O157:H7. More than 5 percent of infected children in this age group experience kidney failure as part of hemolytic uremic syndrome, or HUS. Attorney Fred Pritzker has represented numerous children besieged by E. coli HUS poisoning and he understands that harms extend far beyond the initial period of hospitalization. Fair compensation requires negotiation that recognizes the long-term effects of the illness over a person’s life time.
Contact Fred for a free case consultation at 1-888-377-8900 (Toll Free) or leave your contact information online and he will call you.
