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LAWSUITS NEWS & LEGAL INFORMATION

Two Deaths Linked to E. Coli Outbreak

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Washington, DCSeveral state health departments, the CDC, and the United States Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service (USDA-FSIS) are investigating a multi-state foodborne ilness outbreak of Escherichia coli O157:H7 which has led to the deaths of two American citizens.

On October 31, 2009, the FSIS issued a notice about a recall of 545,699 pounds of beef products from Fairbank Farms that may be contaminated with E. coli O157:H7. Health officials in several states who were investigating a cluster of E. coli O157:H7 illnesses--with isolates that match by "DNA fingerprinting" analyses--found that most ill persons had consumed ground beef, with several purchasing the same or similar product from a common retail chain. A sample from an opened package of ground beef recovered from a patient's home was tested by the Massachusetts Department of Health and yielded an E. coli O157:H7 isolate that matched the patient isolates by DNA analysis.

The E. coli outbreak includes twenty-eight persons from 12 states infected with matching strains of E. coliO157:H7. Of these, the genetic association of 7 human isolates and the product isolate have been confirmed by an advanced secondary DNA test; secondary tests are pending on others. The number of ill persons identified in each state is as follows: California (1), Connecticut (4), Massachusetts (8), Maryland (1), Maine (2), Minnesota (1), New Hampshire (4), New Jersey (1), New York (1), Pennsylvania (2), South Dakota (2), and Vermont (1).

The first reported illness began on August 18, 2009, and the last began on October 10, 2009, although all but 2 patients reported becoming ill between September 17 and October 10, 2009. Sixteen patients have been hospitalized and 3 developed a type of kidney failure called hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS). Sixty-seven percent of patients are male and 43 percent are less than 18 years old (range 1 to 84 years).

Most of the beef packages in the E. coli beef recall bear the establishment number "Est. 492" inside the USDA mark of inspection and have identifying package dates of "091509" or "091609." Consumers are urged to check their refrigerators and freezers for beef products produced by this firm and purchased on or after September 15, 2009 and discard or return the recalled beef products to the place of purchase for a refund. Customers with questions about the source of a package of beef should contact the place where they purchased it (e.g., grocery store, club store, or meat market).

The E. coli lawyers at Simon & Luke are actively investigating this outbreak. They have handled over 2000 food poisoning cases in the last 2 years alone.

READ ABOUT Fooborne Illness LAWSUITS

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