Green County, Wisconsin E. coli O157:H7 and HUS Outbreak
When a child is lost to something as preventable as E. coli poisoning, it is appalling. For too long, profit has come before safety at many companies that process food. We heard from a former manager at one food processor how the CEO did not want testing done on a product because he knew it would come back positive and he didn’t want a recall. This is happening in our country.
Now E. coli O157:H7 has killed another young child. This time it is in Wisconsin, where state and Green County officials are trying to track down the source of the E. coli outbreak that has also sickened eight others. Two of the victims of the outbreak developed hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), sometimes referred to as E. coli kidney failure or E. coli in the kidneys. E. coli-HUS is the leading cause of kidney failure in children in the United States.
According to The Capital Times, a 20-month-old girl from Green County died Sunday at UW Children’s Hospital in Madison after being admitted about a week earlier.
All of the victims of this E. coli outbreak are from Green County, but not all from the same area of Green County.
Pritzker Olsen E. coli attorneys have a national practice and have won millions for E. coli victims throughout the United States, including Wisconsin. Green County cities and towns: Albany, Brodhead, Brooklyn, Browntown, Juda, Monroe, Monticello, and New Glarus.
Research Looks at How E. coli Attaches to Cattle Guts
Research out of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has discovered key gene and chemical interactions that allow Escherichia coli (E. coli) O157:H7 bacteria to colonize the gut of cattle, a problem because cattle manure contaminated with E. coli can contaminated thousands of pounds of ground beef or a crop of leafy greens (cross contamination).
The researchers, including USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS) animal scientist Thomas S. Edrington, reported how the E. coli sense a key chemical that plays a critical role in allowing the bacteria to colonize inside the cattle’s gastrointestinal (GI) tract.
To proliferate, E. coli express genes differently based on their environment, such as outside the cattle host, inside the cattle rumen, or even at the end of the cattle GI tract. Having a better understanding of when, why and how these bacteria colonize could lead to practical applications in the future, according to Edrington.
The researchers showed that “quorum sensing” chemicals called acyl-homoserine lactones (AHLs), which are produced by other bacteria, are present within the bovine rumen but absent in other areas of the cattle GI tract. AHLs are important because E. coli harbor a regulator, called SdiA, which senses these AHLs and then prompts the E. coli to attach and colonize.
The research suggests that limiting production of the SdiA chemical, or blocking bacterial reception of the AHLs, may eventually lead to new strategies for keeping E. coli from attaching inside the animal.
The study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, was conducted at the University of Idaho, Moscow, Idaho, campus. It involved researchers from several universities and was headed by Vanessa Sperandio, who is with the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, in Dallas.
Researchers Outsmart E. coli with Cockroach Brains
Certain strains of E. coli have become multi-drug resistant “super bugs” and a threat to human health. But these super-strength E. coli have met their match in the indestructible cockroach.
Scientists at the University of Nottingham School of Veterinary Medicine and Science have discovered that certain tissues in cockroach brains are able to kill more than 90 per cent of pathogenic Escherichia coli without harming human cells. Other bacteria, such as multi-drug resistant MRSA are also annihilated by cockroach brains.
The research has identified up to nine different molecules in the insect tissues that were toxic to bacteria.
Lincoln NE Area Lake Tainted With E. coli
A popular recreational lake in the greater Lincoln, Nebraska, area has been found with very high levels of E. coli. The Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality has not closed Branched Oak Lake to swimming or other recreation, but people should avoid drinking the water.
A test taken August 12 of the lake revealed E. coli levels at 1,300 parts per 100 milliliters. Any count greater than 235 is considered high, said Brian McManus, a department spokesman. Officials did not say what caused the spike in E. coli levels in the lake, but runoff from heavy rain has been known to increase E. coli levels in some lakes. The pathogen grows in the guts of cattle and some other animals and is expelled in the animals’ feces. The bacteria can cause bloody diarrhea and painful stomach cramping. In 5 to 15 percent of infections, patients develop hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), the leading cause of kidney failure in children.
McManus told JournalStar.com that weekly testing of the lake will continue.
CDC E. coli Outbreak Surveillance Report for 2007
E. coli 0157:H7 and other foodborne agents cause an estimated 76 million illnesses annually in the United States.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has published its latest set of data on foodborne disease outbreaks submitted from all states and territories. The CDC Surveillance for Foodborne Diseases Outbreaks Report summarizes epidemiologic data for the 1,097 reported outbreaks occurring during 2007 (the most recent finalized data), which resulted in 21,244 cases of foodborne illness and 18 deaths.
Among the 497 foodborne outbreaks with a laboratory-confirmed single etiologic agent reported, 40 were shiga toxin-producing E. coli outbreaks, primarily E. coli O157:H7. Coupled with two more suspected E. coli outbreaks, the E. coli classification accounted for 6 percent of 2007 outbreaks.
The 2007 surveillance number was much higher than the mean established from 2002-2006. In that period, the mean number of shiga toxin-producing E. coli outbreaks was 28 per year, or 2 percent of the total outbreaks.
In terms of illnesses, the 2007 report also was higher. In 2007, CDC and state health departments tracked 603 confirmed and suspected shiga-toxin E. coli illnesses. That was up from the 2002-2006 mean number of 375 E. coli illnesses per year.
It is important to note when reviewing the foodborne disease surveillance report that the actual numbers of outbreaks and illnesses in the U.S. is much higher than those confirmed by public health scientists and laboratories.
