Local E. coli illnesses under investigation
Central California E. coli illnesses under investigation, journal reports
Food Safety News reports the origin of the E. coli illnesses of three San Luis Obispo County residents, including two who have been hospitalized, is being investigated by California health officials while they look for others who might be infected.
One of the three is a 12-year old girl who attended the California Mid-State Fair in Paso Robles where she had a dairy goat entered in 4-H competition. Fairs are often sources of transmission of the E. coli bacteria. Neither health officials or the Paso Robles Event Center have said if the fair is a target of the investigation.
California health officials Friday sent an alert to doctors and hospitals in central California on Friday, asking that they send samples from any patients they suspect are suffering from E. coli infections. The potentially deadly E. coli O157:H7 has been identified in two of the cases, and testing is underway on the third.
See original report in Food Safety News
What is E. coli?
Escherichia coli, commonly abbreviated E. coli, is an anaerobic, rod-shaped bacterium that is commonly found in the lower intestine of warm-blooded organisms. Most E. coli strains are harmless, but some types can cause serious food poisoning in humans, and are occasionally responsible for product recalls due to food contamination. The harmless strains are part of the normal flora of the gut, and can benefit their hosts by producing vitamin K2 and by preventing the establishment of pathogenic bacteria within the intestine.
Top stories Aug. 4, 2013
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