The boy’s illness has been affirmatively linked to the Fairbank Farms outbreak, which resulted in the recall of more than half a million pounds of ground beef products — mostly in the Northeast — because of potential E. coli O157:H7 contamination.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ( CDC) 26 persons in eight states, including four in Maine, have fallen victim to the outbreak. Nineteen were hospitalized and 5 developed HUS E. coli, or hemolytic uremic syndrome, the leading cause of kidney failure in children in the United States.

According to a November 13, 2009 story in The New York Times, Fairbank Farms succumbed to pressure from its beef suppliers and inexplicably stopped testing all of its ground beef ingredients. According to the company, those procedures are now being re-evaluated. Unfortunately, that move comes too late for our client, as well as for the two people who have died in this outbreak and the people who have been sickened.

U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York has introduced legislation that puts the price on mandatory testing of ground beef ingredients at one penny per pound. Testing won’t eradicate E. coli O157:H7 from ground beef in the U.S., but our law firm is actively supporting this move and the more sweeping food safety reform bill already passed by the House, because they could prevent outbreaks like this one and could help advance food safety as a more vital protocol in the meat industry.

The needless suffering of the people sickened in this outbreak only serves to underscore the need for more stringent testing and all it would cost is a penny per pound.

To contact Pritzker Olsen law firm, please call 1-888-377-8900 (toll free), email Attorney Fred Pritzker or submit our online form for a free consultation. We are accepting additional cases from the current outbreak and are involved in practically every major outbreak of foodborne illness in the United States as a representative for victims. Pritzker Olsen is one of the few law firms in the country practicing extensively in the area of food poisoning litigation and we have collected millions of dollars over the years for E. coli victims.

The Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention is investigating this outbreak and has not yet determined its source.

Dr. Dora Anne Mills, the director of Maine’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) wrote a public health alert late last week reminding school-based health centers, local health departments and physicians in the state to be on the lookout for E. coli O157:H7 in patients with diarrheal illness. Symptoms of E. coli infection include diarrhea (often bloody), severe stomach cramping and sometimes nausea or vomiting.

The four matching E. coli cases found in Maine were among seven total E. coli O157:H7 illnesses confirmed to have started in the state between April 17 and May 17. All the cases were in Cumberland or York counties.

National food poisoning and food safety law firm Pritzker Olsen Attorneys is monitoring the outbreak in Maine and tracking whether it could be part of a larger emerging pattern of E. coli O157:H7 infections.

The firm is involved in practically every major outbreak of foodborne illness and has collected tens of millions of dollars over the years for victims of E. coli, Salmonella, Listeria and other pathogens in food.

Pritzker Olsen is one of the few law firms in the country that is extensively involved in foodborne illness litigation. The firm, led by founder and President Fred Pritzker, also has criticized current food safety laws, saying they don’t go far enough to prevent pathogens from contaminating our food in the first place.

If you or someone you know has injuries, questions or information about the Maine E. coli outbreak, call 1-888-377-8900 (Toll Free) or submit our free consultation form.