Local E. coli outbreak widens

The Herald-Sun reports that state public health officials disclosed Friday that a second Durham County child and one from Person County are among 20 people statewide who have been confirmed with E. coli infections.
The two newly reported cases and two previously reported cases in Durham and Chatham counties are part of the upsurge in problems that appear to be linked to one or more infected animals in the children’s petting zoo at the N.C. State Fair.
A student at Glenwood Elementary School in Chapel Hill also was reported by school officials late Friday to have a confirmed case of E. coli infection, although there was no announcement from the county health department. State public health officials also didn’t include any Orange County residents in their daily E. coli infection update, issued about the same time as the school’s announcement. It is possible, however, that the Glenwood student doesn’t live in Orange County.
Officials also reported another 39 possible cases under review but not confirmed as E. coli infection. They planned to continue the investigation through the weekend, including genetic fingerprinting of confirmed cases to trace similarities among the bugs and to confirm which might be associated with the State Fair.