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.
St. Louis County Missouri E. coli Update
St. Louis County, Missouri, is the center of a hard-hitting E. coli outbreak that also has affected consumers in three surrounding counties, including St. Clair County, Illinois. Many people have been hospitalized and the current count of 23 cases will almost certainly grow.
The U.S. Centers for 
Disease Control and Prevention and Missouri state health officials are assisting in the investigation to determine what food is spreading a pathogen that Dr. Dolores J. Gunn of the St. Louis County Department of Health described as toxic and virulent. Sixteen of the cases were confirmed this week in less than 72 hours.
Grocery store salad bars are being looked at as one focal point of the investigation and Schnucks has voluntarily removed some produce items as a precaution. No recalls have been announced. Health officials are urging parents to go straight to the emergency room with any children who get sick with bloody diarrhea, a signature symptom of toxic E. coli poisoning. Children under 5 are most susceptible to a complication known as hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS). Kidney failure, stroke, severe anemia, heart problems and paralysis are among the hazards of HUS.
An E. coli lawyer from Pritzker Olsen Attorneys, a national food poisoning law firm, is in contact with victims of the St. Louis E. coli outbreak for filing a lawsuit. Free case consultations are provided at 1-888-377-8900 (Toll Free) or leave your contact information and our attorney will call you. Pritzker Olsen has collected millions of dollars for E. coli victims in claims settlements and courtroom litigation that can be extremely complicated. The firm also is actively involved in multiple efforts to prevent outbreaks of food poisoning. Our clients have testified before Congress on the need to clean up the U.S. food supply and hold wrongdoers accountable for deaths and other harms.
Schnucks Pulls Items in Cooperation with County Investigation into St. Louis Area E. coli Outbreak
Schnucks Markets and others in the food service industry are working closely with the St. Louis County Department of Health as part of a public health investigation into a foodborne outbreak of shiga toxin-producing E. coli. No source has been announced, but health department officials today confirmed that 14 cases have been reported so far this week throughout the area, from Florissant to South County.
Six of the case patients have been hospitalized and treated at Mercy Medical Center in Creve Coeur, a county health department spokesman said.
A spokeswoman for Schnucks told a news reporter that the grocery store chain has pulled some items from its salad bar, but only out of an abundance of caution and not because they were required to do so. Lettuce and strawberries were among the pulled items, the Schnucks spokeswoman she said.
No recalls have been announced in connection with this outbreak but the county health director, Dr. Dolores J. Gunn, is continuing to urge parents to bring any child who has bloody diarrhea to a hospital emergency room for treatment and testing. Children under age 5 are most susceptible to a life-threatening complication of E. coli infection known as hemolytic uremic syndrome, or HUS E. coli, but the disease also can strike healthy adults.
An E. coli lawyer at Pritzker Olsen Attorneys has been assigned to investigate the St. Louis County outbreak as part of the firm’s response on the side of victims. Our law firm has collected millions of dollars for E. coli patients in outbreaks where the bacteria was traced back to a food product, restaurant or food store. Free case consultations are available at 1-888-377-8900 (Toll Free) or leave your contact information online and an attorney will call you.
Two Children with Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome in Maple Rapids, MI: What Was the Source of the E. coli Infection that Caused the HUS?
Two children from the Maple Rapids area have developed hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) after contracting E. coli infections at a day care, according to the Michigan District Health Department (MMDHD).
For those who are not familiar with HUS, it is a life-threatening illness that often causes kidney failure, pancreatitis and extremely high blood pressure. These, in turn, cause additional health problems, including stroke, blindness and heart attacks. These children are fighting for their lives.
The source of this outbreak needs to be found to prevent further illness and to give the parents of these HUS victims the information they need to hold those responsible accountable. Our experience is that these daycare-associated outbreaks are generally caused by contaminated food, but there have been cases where contaminated water or a trip to a petting zoo have been the source of the outbreak.
In July, an outbreak of E. coli O157 in Michigan 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.
Last year, a Michigan E. coli outbreak was linked to contaminated lettuce. E. coli bacteria can colonize within the leaf, making it impossible to wash off.
When our law firm takes a day care E. coli HUS case, we immediately begin an independent investigation into the outbreak. We have access to some of the countries best epidemiologists and food safety experts to assist us with the investigation. We know parents do not have the financial resources to pay for this up front, so we are not paid unless the family wins money from those responsible for the illness.
Attorney Fred Pritzker and his team of E. coli lawyers represent E. coli victims throughout the United States. They have won money for E. coli victims in Michigan. Cities near Maple Rapids, MI, include Grand Rapids, Lansing, Mt. Pleasant, Flint and Saginaw.
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.
