A week of E. coli Outbreaks and a Salmonella Outbreak

You would have thought that the Mcdonalds E. Coli Outbreak and the Boar’s Head Listeria Outbreak was enough to keep me busy, but then these came along too.

Baby Carrot E. coli Outbreak. Grimmway Farms has issued a recall of select organic whole carrots and organic baby carrots that should no longer be in grocery stores but may be in consumers’ refrigerators or freezers. The company is voluntarily recalling these carrots after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that these products may be associated with an outbreak. To date, 39 illnesses and one death have been associated with an E. coli O121:H19 outbreak.

Rockwood Andre’s Catering E. coli Outbreak. Students, staff, and parents are continuing to be affected by an E. coli outbreak from an off-campus Rockwood Summit High School event this week. According to the St. Louis County Health Department, there have now been 69 cases identified as of Friday afternoon. Those who have tested positive for the strain attended two separate events that were hosted or catered by a local banquet center. That banquet center is cooperating with health officials, according to the release. The salad served at both events is suggested as the source of illness, but there is no specific ingredient of the bacteria or where it formed. 

Great Falls Salmonella Outbreak. At this time, ten cases have been confirmed. Nine of those confirmed cases are within four GFPS elementary schools. Additional test results are pending. The MT State lab is performing genomic sequencing of test samples for each confirmed salmonella infection. These results would determine whether the Great Falls cases are linked to cases in other jurisdictions but will not confirm a specific food source. As of 11/15, we have not yet received those results. As a cautionary measure, GFPS has removed all fresh fruits and vegetables from all school menus and made available canned and dried alternatives.

Red Cow and Hen House E. coli Outbreak. Health officials are urging people to contact their health care provider if they ate a hamburger, especially if undercooked, at a table-service restaurant since Oct. 31 and then developed diarrhea, particularly bloody diarrhea, in the following week. The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) has identified 10 cases of E. coli O157 infection in people who had eaten burgers at multiple locations of Red Cow, a table-service restaurant chain with locations in Hennepin, Ramsey and Olmsted counties. One additional case reported dining at Hen House Eatery in Minneapolis, which received the same ground beef product suspected in this investigation. The ground beef product was also distributed to other establishments, so additional cases from other locations could be identified. So far, cases have reported meal dates of Oct. 31 through Nov. 7, and illness onset dates range from Nov. 4 through Nov. 9. Cases range in age from 9 to 70 years. Two cases have been hospitalized. Additional potential cases are under investigation.  

Republished with permission from Bill Marler and Marler Clark. Copyright (c) Marler Clark LLP, PS. All rights reserved.