Thread: E. coli outbreak sickens 11; nine ate at same restaurant

http://www.cnn.com/2006/HEALTH/12/03/ec ... index.html

NEWARK, New Jersey (AP) -- An outbreak of E. coli bacteria has sickened at least 11 people in New Jersey over the past two weeks, officials said.

"This is a significant outbreak of a serious disease, and a significant amount of people are ill," Middlesex County Director of Health David Papi told The Star-Ledger.

Investigators are still trying to figure out how and where the victims became infected, the newspaper reported in Sunday's editions.

The youngest patient is 1 and the oldest is 23. Two of the 11 had developed a serious condition called hemolytic uremic syndrome that can permanently damage the kidneys.

Nine of the 11 ate at a Taco Bell restaurant in South Plainfield that was voluntarily closed on Thursday because of the investigation, but Papi said inspectors did not find any significant health code violations there last week. Tests are being performed on the restaurant's 21 employees to see if any are infected.

A Taco Bell representative at company headquarters in Irvine, California, did not immediately return a call seeking comment Sunday.

E. coli, short for Escherichia coli, is a common and ordinarily harmless intestinal bacteria. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the strain of E. coli that caused the New Jersey infections is often found in the intestines of healthy goats, sheep and cattle, and most infections are associated with undercooked meat.

It can be passed from person to person if people don't take steps such as thoroughly washing their hands.

E. coli may also be found on sprouts or green leafy vegetables such as spinach. Earlier this year, three people died and more than 200 were sickened by a strain of E. coli that was traced to packaged spinach grown in California.

It could have possible been from their lettuce and veggies, yuck more and more I am eating at home, which is ok my wife is an excellent cook!

When pigs fly! Any farmer worth his salt keeps wild animals and rodents out of his fields because they destroy his crop. They have all kids of preventive and repellent products they use. No no no it was human waste! I know what it was and the FDA and the USDA need to quit spinning out bureaucratic BS statements. They will not tell us the truth that it was unsanitary foreign workers.

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/healthn ... wsid=55300
Pigs Source Of Spinach E Coli Outbreak Say Investigators

Article Date: 28 Oct 2006 - 0:00am (PST)

Investigators say a wild pigs were very likely the source of a spinach E. Coli outbreak that caused the death of three people and made over 200 people ill in the USA and Canada. The investigators have found six new samples of the E. Coli strain that match those of the tainted spinach on a ranch in California. The ranch is located in Monterey and San Benito counties.

Two samples came from a wild pig (wild boar) that was killed on the ranch, while the other four came from cattle in the same ranch, according to the California Department of Health Services. Investigators say the pigs probably spread the bacteria into the spinach fiends through their droppings (excrement). However, so far, no one really knows how the bacteria made it way to the spinach farm.

Dr. Kevin Reilly, from the California Department of Health Services, said "Clearly, we have positive results on one property that are helping to refine our investigation. We have not closed any possibilities on three other ranches, but the information is accumulating that our environmental findings are consistent on this one property."

Reilly added "Animals, wildlife and water were in close proximity to the field. We have evidence for fences torn down, wildlife going into the actual spinach fields themselves. That's where the investigation is centered right now. There's clear evidence that the pig population has access and goes onto the fields. Is that the ultimate means of contamination or is that one potential means, including water and wildlife? We're still investigating that."

Investigations are still underway at three other ranches in the area. Samples from there did contain E. Coli, but they did not match the ones found in the tainted spinach.

Since September 25th nobody has become ill as a result of eating raw spinach. The FDA says it is safe to eat raw spinach.

Written by: Christian Nordqvist
Editor: Medical News Today

Dixie

Dixie, you are exactly right.

It's human feces bacteria causing these outbreaks.

Welcome to the New Third World.

Several Causes:
Undercooked Meat
Agribusiness using Human Sludge on crops and it not getting washed off before consumed.
Person(s) working at restraunt with TB Not washing hands...

An update. I reallylike the part about not being able to find some of the employees.
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory? ... 630&page=2

E. Coli Sickens at Least 15 in N.J.
New Jersey Outbreak of E. Coli Sickens Least 15; Investigation Focuses on Taco Bell

By CHRIS NEWMARKER

TRENTON, N.J. Dec 3, 2006 (AP)— An outbreak of E. coli bacteria has sickened at least 15 people, two seriously, in central New Jersey during the past two weeks, officials said Sunday.

Authorities had yet to determine how and where the victims, mostly children, became infected. Investigators focused on a Taco Bell restaurant in South Plainfield where 11 of the victims ate.

The restaurant, which has been closed voluntarily since Thursday, passed a health code inspection last week and tests were being performed on stool samples from 21 of its employees.

Authorities were still looking for a few other employees from the restaurant and hoped to have results late Sunday or Monday.

"We have taken every precaution, including temporarily closing the restaurant until the investigation is completed, as nothing is more important to us than the health and safety of our customers and employees," said Rob Poetsch, a spokesman for Irvine, Calif.-based Taco Bell Corp.

Seven of the victims were in area hospitals Sunday night. Two had developed a serious condition called hemolytic uremic syndrome that can permanently damage the kidneys. Officials were also investigating four other cases of suspected E. coli infection.

"It's a significant outbreak and it's a serious disease," Middlesex County Director of Health David Papi said.

Two of the confirmed victims were adults, while the others mostly range in age from 7 to 14, Papi said. All the victims were from Middlesex, Monmouth and Somerset counties.

E. coli, short for Escherichia coli, is a common and ordinarily harmless intestinal bacteria. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the strain of E. coli that caused the New Jersey infections is often found in the intestines of healthy goats, sheep and cattle, and most infections are associated with undercooked meat.

It can be passed from person to person if people don't take steps such as thoroughly washing their hands.

E. coli may also be found in sprouts or green leafy vegetables such as spinach. Earlier this year, three people died and more than 200 were sickened by a strain of E. coli that was traced to packaged spinach grown in California.

On the Net:

National Institutes of Health:

The restaurant, which has been closed voluntarily since Thursday, passed a health code inspection last week and tests were being performed on stool samples from 21 of its employees.

Authorities were still looking for a few other employees from the restaurant and hoped to have results late Sunday or Monday.

OMIGOD ... what have we become?

Please ... someone get me my Puke Pail. I have to eat out today because I spent too much time on the Internet this weekend fighting illegal immigration and didn't have time to do the grocery shopping.

Ironically, it was a Taco Bell.

Dixie

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/04/nyreg ... r=homepage

N.J. Taco Bell Stays Shut After E. Coli Outbreak
By JOHN HOLUSHA
Published: December 4, 2006

Nineteen people in New Jersey have been sickened, two of them seriously, by E. coli infections, and a Taco Bell fast food restaurant in South Plainfield, N.J., remained closed today as health investigators sought the source of their illness.

Stephanie Brown, an epidemiologist for Middlesex County, where most of the victims live, told The Associated Press today that 5 of the 19 people known to have contracted E. coli infections were in the hospital, and 2 of the 5 had developed hemolytic uremic syndrome, which can be fatal or cause permanent damage to the kidneys.

Calls to the county’s public health department today seeking further information were not immediately returned; neither were calls to Taco Bell’s corporate headquarters in Irvine, Calif. The health department scheduled a mid-afternoon news conference to report on the status of the outbreak.

“It’s a significant outbreak and it’s a serious disease,” the Middlesex County Director of Health David Papi said on Sunday. “From a public health standpoint, we’re very concerned about this.”

Those sickened ranged from one year old to 23, but most are children, according to the Newark Star-Ledger, which reported the two-week-long outbreak on Sunday.

Although the specific source of the outbreak has not been identified, in September the Food and Drug Administration issued a warning saying that E. coli contamination of fresh produce might be the cause of illness in multiple states.

Most E. coli infections cause little more than discomfort, the F.D.A. said, but in some people, especially young children and the elderly, the infection can develop into hemolytic uremic syndrome, or H.U.S.

In a September outbreak of the illness, which was traced to bagged fresh spinach from California, three people died and some 200 fell ill.

Taco Bell, with about 5,800 restaurants in the United States, some of them company-owned and others owned by franchisees, is a subsidiary of Yum Brands, which also operates KFC, Pizza Hut and other restaurant chains.

"Ironically it was a Taco Bell"

Taco Bell is a funder of La Raza.

It is obvious to us all what the source of the E-Coli breakout is!

It is unkempt illegals who have no concept of what it is to live in a civilized society.

This is similar to the EColi breakout that destroyed the Chi-Chi's chain of restaurants and was seen in our lettuce during the summer.

It's not surprising that suddenly NOW the workers have melted away and cannot be found!!!!!!!! That appears to be the nature of people who have no fixed address and no verifiable i.d. They will probably resurface a couple of months from now in some other fast food restaurant or landscaping job or construction site or housekeeping. That is the nature of this mob of itinerant drifters.

These illegals are a plague on our society. Every single one who is willing to work $2 an hour, undercutting good, honest American workers is a potential food industry disaster in the making.

Our gvt. does nothing, our Congress does nothing, our officials do NOTHING!!!! The only one in the media who has the guts to say anything is Lou Dobbs and even HE is tempered by his Corporate Masters.

The problem is completely out of hand and is at this point way beyond any simple social solution.

They congregate on our corners, they stalk our home and hardware centers, and slowly and incideously chip away at our standards of living and salary.

Make no mistake --- This is an invasion!!!! It is no different from a plague of locusts or cochroaches. The problem MUST BE SOLVED and soon or it will shortly be beyond solving without violence.