Outbreaks
Robeson School District E. coli Outbreak
Twenty-six people linked to Prospect Elementary School tested positive for E. coli O157:H7, and almost 200 people showed symptoms of E. coli infection after eating at a Thanksgiving Feast in November 2001. An intensive epidemiological study by local, state and federal health officials revealed that the introduction of E. coli bacteria to the feast was caused by homemade, unpasteurized (raw) butter brought into the school for the Thanksgiving feast.Marler Clark represented the most seriously injured children in this outbreak in a lawsuit against the Public Schools of Robeson County. The lawsuit was dismissed by a judge because the school district had not waived governmental immunity granted by the State of North Carolina.
