Four children hospitalized with kidney failure
by Cookson Beecher
Food Safety News
Apr 21, 2012
Nineteen people in Oregon are ill with E. coli in an outbreak traced to raw milk from Foundation Farm near Wilsonville -- up one from the 18 cases reported Thursday -- according to a April 20 news release from the Public Health Division of the state's Health Authority.
Of the 19 people, 11 have culture-confirmed E. coli O157 infections. Fifteen of the 19 cases are children 19 or younger. Four of the children have been hospitalized with kidney failure. On April 19, a Portland hospital confirmed that one of the hospitalized children -- a 13-year-old girl -- was in critical condition. According to a member of the cowshare implicated in the outbreak, as many as four of the farmer's children are also sickened, including one with hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS).
Children, the elderly and those who are frail healthwise are the most vulnerable to being infected by E. coli O157, a potentially fatal foodborne disease characterized by diarrhea (sometimes bloody) and abdominal pain. Kidney failure and related complications may occur. Symptoms usually develop within 2 to 8 days of eating contaminated food or drinking contaminated milk.
Oregon public health officials urge anyone who has consumed raw milk and is experiencing these symptoms to contact a doctor or health-care provider.
Continue reading, "19 ill with E. coli in Oregon Raw Milk Outbreak" at Food Safety News.