Health Officials Investigate E. coli Death in California
By David Szerlag
A child in Dixon, California, has died from an E. coli infection and health officials are testing the town’s water supply and looking elsewhere for the cause.
KCRA-TV reported late Friday that the Solano County Public Health Department has yet to find any other E. coli cases but has asked local hospitals to be extra vigilant for symptoms of the disease in their patients.
For privacy reasons, the county is not releasing information about the child who died, nor have health officials disclosed what strain of E. coli infected the youth.
In early December, a water utility pipe burst in Dixon and part of the town came under a water boil advisory. Water samples were screened at the time, prompting a “hit” for E. coli in one instance. But KCRA-TV reported that officials disregarded the finding as false.
Robin Cox, a spokeswoman for the Solano County Public Health Department, said investigators have resumed taking water samples in different areas of Dixon, including at and around the house where the child lived.
Tags: E coli
