CDC Reports on Fairbank Ground Beef Outbreak
Here is the official statement by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on the current Fairbank ground beef E. coli O157:H7 outbreak, which is more widespread than originally reported — though still concentrated in New England. If you have legal questions about this outbreak, call national food safety law firm Pritzker Olsen Attorneys at 1-888-377-8900 (Toll Free) or complete our online contact and information.
Several state health departments, CDC, and the United States Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and InspectionService (USDA-FSIS) are investigating a multi-state outbreak of Escherichia coli O157:H7 infections. On October 31, 2009, 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. At least some of the illnesses appear to be associated with products subject to these recalls. 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 cluster includes twenty-eight persons from 12 states infected with matching strains of E. coli O157: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; however all but 2 patients reported becoming ill between September 17 and October 10, 2009. Sixteen patients are reported to have been hospitalized and 3 developed a type of kidney failure called hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS). Two deaths have been reported. Sixty-seven percent of patients are male and 43% are less than 18 years old (range 1 to 84 years).
Most of the beef packages in the 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.
