Public health officials who study these outbreaks warn parents to be especially cautious if you have a child or someone in the family who is elderly or living with a compromised immune system. Certain experts — including epidemiologists at the Minnesota Department of Health — warn that children under 5 years of age, immunocompromised persons, pregnant women and the elderly should avoid eating sprouts (including alfalfa, clover, radish, and mung bean sprouts).

E. coli O157:H7 and other forms of Shiga toxin-producing E. coli can be life-threatening to young children because they are in the age group most at risk for a complication known as hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS). This condition leads quickly to kidney failure after initial symptoms of E. coli (bloody diarrhea and painful stomach cramps) begin to subside. The infection, which attacks a person’s red blood cells, can also lead to stroke, paralysis, severe anemia and vascular injury in the heart and elsewhere. HUS survivors must spend the rest of their lives with affects of the disease, including hypertension, diabetes, kidney problems and other deficits.

In E. coli sprout outbreaks, unsanitary manufacturing practices and seed contamination are often to blame. There are a number of approved techniques to kill harmful bacteria that may be present on seeds and even tests for seeds during sprouting. But no treatment is guaranteed to eliminate all harmful bacteria and growers stick to food safety standards in varying degrees. Sprout E. coli outbreak investigations conducted by our law firm over the years has reaffirmed this premise time and time again.

Pritzker Olsen Attorneys is one of the very few legal groups in the country practicing extensively in the area of E. coli litigation, representing families and individuals who deserve compensation for medical bills, pain and suffering, lost time at work and other harms caused by the negligence of those who profit from selling food. Even we were taken aback this year at the power of a sprout E. coli outbreak in Europe, centered in northern Germany.

Amid panic and exhaustive efforts to find the source of the outbreak, upwards of 4,000 people became infected with Shiga toxin-producing E. coli O104:H4 and more than 823 of those victims became patients with HUS, or hemolytic uremic syndrome. At least 45 people died. Ultimately, the outbreak was traced to contaminated sprout seeds imported from Egypt. The micro-organisms naturally multiply and cluster as the seeds sprout because they are grown in warm and moist environments. This is what creates the food safety risk and it’s a chronic problem that deserves much closer scrutiny by the industry and by regulators. While consumers should take precautions, they are not to blame when contaminated sprouts make someone seriously ill.

Ten people have confirmed E. coli O157:H7 infections caused by a single strain. The E. coli victims include residents of Washington, Clatsop, and Multnomah counties. Six other people in northwest Oregon also have recently developed an E. coli O157:H7 infection and appear to be part of this outbreak.

Of the confirmed cases, four have been hospitalized. Two of those hospitalized had E. coli kidney failure, and one of them, a woman from Washington County, died. Approximately 5 percent of people infected with E. coli O157:H7, especially young children and the elderly, develop hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) and/or thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP) and suffer serious and potentially fatal E. coli kidney damage and failure.

Jaquith has recalled its products.  While investigating the farm, William Keene, senior epidemiologist with Oregon Public Health, saw dear roaming through the strawberry field. Keene is having deer feces tested for E. coli to determine if deer are the source of the E. coli contamination, Keene told the Oregonian.

Two Virginia cases may also be connected to one of the Tennessee outbreaks.  A 2-year-old girl and her 5-year-old brother from Dryden, Virginia contracted E. coli infections that developed into hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), an often fatal illness sometimes referred to as E. coli kidney failure. In addition to kidney failure, HUS can cause brain damage, heart attack, stroke, blindness, severe hypertension and other serious health problems. The girl died, and her brother is out of the hospital.

E. coli is dangerous because it produces Shiga toxins, which cause a condition known as hemorrhagic colitis, the source of the bloody diarrhea associated with E. coli O157:H7 infections. Shiga toxin is also responsible for HUS.

These E. coli outbreaks come with a cost. One family has lost a daughter and has medical expenses and other financial losses related to their son’s illness. Many other families also have medical expenses and other losses. In addition, the children and adults who were sickened suffered severe pain. Those responsible should be held accountable. We have handled many cases where a “smoking gun” was never found. The epidemiological and microbiological evidence needs to be examined to see if there is sufficient evidence to file a lawsuit.

Moehr said his office has collected the leftover food that remains from that family event. He said a total of 11 out of 24 people who attended the event reported some symptoms. “Sometimes people have symptoms and they get over them in a day or a few days. In rare cases, severe E. coli poisoning can progress to conditions like hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) that can cause the organs to shut down. That more severe form is apparently what happened in this case,” Moehr told the news reporter. He said the outbreak appears to be contained to the single family event.

E. coli deaths happen about 80 times a year in the United States. The organism also causes more than 73,000 illnesses. HUS develops in five to 15 percent of people who contract E. coli infections. It is a disease that attacks a person’s red blood cells and can cause serious illness including kidney failure, strokes, heart problems, paralysis and other damage. HUS also is the leading cause of E. coli deaths, most often affecting young children, the elderly or others who have weakened immune systems. But HUS deaths also can occur in healthy people of any age.

National food safety law firm Pritzker Olsen currently is representing E. coli HUS victims and has handled many HUS death cases on behalf of surviving family members. To talk to an E. coli lawyer about financial recovery claims, call 1-888-377-8900 (toll free) or complete the contact form on the side of this Web site. Pritzker Olsen provides free case consultations and can answer your legal questions about losses suffered from E. coli poisoning. Our firm is one of the few in the nation practicing extensively in the area of foodborne illness litigation and we have collected millions for victims and their families. Pritzker Olsen also is actively involved in efforts to eliminate dangerous pathogens from our food supply and our attorneys often are quoted in the mainstream press for their expertise in food poisoning.

A total of 23 children and four staff members were found to have either probable or confirmed cases of E.coli O157:H7. One child, 4-year-old Ronan Wilson, died April 8 after a week at Doernbecher Children’s Hospital in Portland. Three other children were hospitalized.

According to a story this week in The Columbian newspaper, Dr. Alan Melnick, the county’s public health officer, told the county board that officials first learned of the case Friday, March 19, after a child was hospitalized. The report said the child attended the Fletch Family Daycare, but an initial investigation showed there were no other sick children at the daycare. Melnick reported that the same physician who treated the first child reported a second case in a Fletch Family Daycare attendee on March 26. At that point testing was urged for all children and adults in the daycare.

But by April 1, Ronan was hospitalized and he died 7 days later. The newspaper quoted Melnick as saying that the pediatrician who first saw Ronan concluded Ronan had the flu because he didn’t have bloody diarrhea and said Ronan didn’t need to be tested, even after learning Ronan attended a day care where other children had E. coli.

While bloody diarrhea occurs in up to 90 percent of E.coli cases, Ronan and others didn’t initially have it, Melnick said. The commissioners also received a letter from Dr. Anthony Marfin, the state epidemiologist for communicable diseases.  Marfin concluded the county acted within state guidelines while responding to the outbreak.

The person-to-person transmission found to have occurred at the Fletch Family Daycare is consistent with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data that most daycare E. coli outbreaks happen via fecal-oral  spreading due to poor hand-washing hygiene. In outbreaks of E. coli, five to 15 percent of people infected by the organism develop life-threatening hemolytic uremic syndrome, HUS. Of all age groups, young children are the most susceptible to contracting HUS, which typically involves kidney failure and can lead to other severe health issues.

Law firm PritzkerOlsen, P.A., currently represents families who are dealing with E. coli infection and HUS. Over the years our attorneys have recovered millions for victims of these outbreaks, including daycare E. coli outbreaks from around the country.

For a free case consultation or to ask legal questions of an E. coli lawyer who has handled many HUS cases, call our firm at 1-888-377-8900 (TOLL FREE) or complete the contact form on the side of this Web page.

That’s what Clark County Public Health said in a news release.

The Fletch Family Daycare will “remain closed until those working in the day care who have tested positive for E. coli or displayed symptoms have two negative E. coli tests separated by 24 hours,” the news release said. “Clark County Public Health may allow the day care to reopen next Monday or sooner, pending the outcome of test results.”

The same testing protocol applies to children of  the daycare before they are allowed to return or attend any other daycare center. Children are most likely to suffer a life-threatening complication of E. coli O157:H7 infection known as hemolytic uremic poisoning.

The first E. coli infection at the daycare was diagnosed March 19, but the home stayed open until it was shut down April 2. The child who died was the fourth to be diagnosed with an infection. Besides sickening the four children, seven other people associated with the daycare tested positive for E. coli O157:H7 even though they were asymptomatic, officials have said.

Larry Fletch, who owns the daycare with his wife, Dianne, sent an email to local media that said the tragedy was complicated by uncertainty because some illnesses were initially thought to be norovirus .

Families affected by the outbreak can call national food safety law firm Pritzker Olsen at 1-888-377-8900 (Toll Free) for answers to legal questions and a free case consultation. If we agree to take your case, you owe us nothing until you win. You may also contact our firm via the Internet;  click here.

The deceased child became ill almost two weeks after the first case was diagnosed — a period in which health officials allowed the daycare to stay open.

The delayed closing was documented by the Associated Press, which quoted Clark County Health Officer Dr. Alan Melnick as saying there was concern that other parents who used the facility could take their children to different day cares and risk exposing others.

The outbreak timeline certainly raises questions about the judgment call because in the end, the Fletch family daycare center was closed on April 2. Under the closure, public health officials are monitoring the children with repetitive E. coli testing. They won’t be  allowed to go back to any daycare center until they are cleared as safe.

National food safety law firm Pritzker Olsen is accepting cases from this outbreak and answering any legal questions parents might have. An E. coli lawyer at the firm can be reached Toll Free at 1-888-377-8900 or by completing the contact form on the side of this Web page.

Pritzker Olsen is a leader in representing victims of foodborne illness and is actively involved in efforts to prevent outbreaks and strengthen the safety of the U.S. food supply.

Outbreaks of E. coli O157:H7 normally start with the consumption of contaminated ground beef, other food or water, but person-to-person transmission can fuel an outbreak. Of all outbreak settings, daycare centers are the most problematic for person-to-person spreading, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said.

When daycare E. coli outbreaks occur, they should be especially alarming because young children are the most susceptible of any age group to develop a life-threatening complication known as hemolytic uremic syndrome, HUS. HUS is the leading cause of kidney failure in children worldwide and the leading cause of E. coli deaths.

Our experience with HUS victims is that they can suffer far more than renal failure. Powerful toxins from the E. coli can wreak havoc all over, including the body’s central nervous system, causing stroke, brain injury, coma, convulsions and paralysis.

“Our law firm is representing a 3-year-old boy that developed hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) from an E. coli infection.  He fought for his life for weeks in the hospital. Most people do not realize how dangerous E. coli poisoning is and that severe cases can result in life-long illness or death,” stated Attorney Fred Pritzker.

“Simply requiring more E. coli testing at slaughterhouses and at processing plants before and after grinding would prevent many E. coli outbreaks linked to ground beef, but federal and state regulators are unwilling to do this.  Our law firm continues to advocate for these changes, and we ask the public to write their legislators and demand more testing.  Eating a hamburger should not be a high-risk activity.”

State health officials are working with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the New Hampshire Grocers Association and the CDC on this investigation, according to a press release from the New Hampshire DHHS:

“It’s possible we may see more cases in the coming days.”

“E. coli is a bacteria that produces a toxin that is potentially deadly to people,” said Dr. Jose Montero, Director of Public Health at DHHS, “especially young children and seniors. People should prepare all meat products safely and cook to a proper temperature to prevent illness. For this recall people should check their freezers for any affected products and throw them away.”

The Fairbank Farms ground beef outbreak has sickened people in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Maine and New Hampshire. And the impact could be wider. The company’s Halloween recall of 545,699 pounds of potentially adulterated hamburger meat listed eight states where the beef was distributed: Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Virginia, North Carolina, Massachusetts, Maryland and Connecticut.

Retailers that carried the ground beef — all sold under various store labels marked with USDA establishment number EST 492 — were Trader Joe’s, Shaws Supermarkets, ACME, Price Chopper, Giant Food Stores, BJ’s Wholesale Club/Burris and Ford Brothers. Click here and scroll down for the company’s most recent recall list.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is involved in the investigation of the outbreak, but so far the agency hasn’t commented on how many illnesses or deaths may have been caused by it. The E. coli ground beef was produced between September 14 and 16 and most sell-by dates were in the range of September 19-28. Given the late date of the recall, any unused product would be in residential freezers, where the bacteria does not die.

Anyone with symptoms of food poisoning, including bloody diarrhea, should see a physician immediately. To receive legal information about this outbreak, call national food safety law firm Pritzker Olsen Attorneys at 1-888-377-8900 (Toll Free). An E. coli attorney at our firm will listen to your information and provide you with a free case consultation regarding a Fairbank Farms lawsuit. If you prefer online communication, please complete our contact and information form.

Pritzker Olsen is involved on behalf of victims  in practically every major E. Coli O157:H7 outbreak in the United States. As such, we have collected tens of milions of dollars for victims of food poisoning. Rhode Island E. coli attorney David Szerlag is a member of our staff and lawyers Fred Pritzker and Elliot Olsen are known nationally for their expertise in food poisoning. This year, both Pritzker and Olsen taught E. coli prevention seminars  at national food industry conventions. Helping to prevent foodborne illness is an important part of our the mission.

¹Boston Globe, Nov. 1, 2009