Update on Colorado Stock Show Outbreak
By Eric Hageman
The 2009 National Western Stock Show (NWSS) in Denver, Colorado, attracted some 650,000 visitors, making it the largest show of its kind in the world.
But this year’s event also left a legacy of E. coli O157:H7 – an outbreak that sickened at least 29 attendees, including two people who suffered HUS, or hemolytic uremic syndrome, a severe complication that attacks a person’s red blood cells and kidneys. A case was considered confirmed if the person got sick on or after January 10; had a laboratory finding of E. coli O157:H7 in the person’s stool, and the molecular fingerprint found in the stool matched the outbreak strain of E. coli O157:H7.
Local and state health officials discovered the outbreak after noticing a larger than normal volume of E. coli illnesses in the front range area of Colorado. They observed that the patients shared a common experience — attendance at the National Western Stock Show. Later, testing at the event found E. coli O157:H7 bacteria on the ground where animals stood for the “Feed the Animals” portion of the show. Preliminary findings of the stock show outbreak are now public.
At petting zoos, E. coli O157:H7 is a well-known danger. E. coli prevention guidelines were established in 2005 by the National Association of State Public Health Veterinarians and later adopted by other organizations, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The E. coli prevention document was updated in 2009 and judging from its contents, the organizers of the stock show in Colorado apparently failed to follow some of the measures.
Pritzker Olsen Attorneys, a national food safety law firm that is one of America’s most experienced practitioners of foodborne illness litigation, is representing survivors of this outbreak and accepting additional clients who may also have gotten sick from the stock show with E. coli bacteria. If you would like to learn more about our firm, visit us on the web, call us at 1-888-377-8900 (Toll Free) or email the firm’s president, Fred Pritzker, at fhp@pritzkerlaw.com . We also offer free case consultations online.
