The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has a standing  advisory out to consumers to check their refrigerators and freezers for ground beef products produced by Fairbank Farms and  purchased on or after September 15 from a variety of retailers in the Northeast.

The CDC now states 26 cases from 11 states have matching strains of E. coli O157:H7. One case has been reported in each of the following states: California, Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York and Vermont. Two cases have been reported in both Maine and Pennsylvania, four cases are in Connecticut and New Hampshire and eight cases are in Massachusetts.

Of all 26 cases, 16 patients have been hospitalized, 3 developed hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), a type of kidney failure, and two have died. Thirteen of these cases have been confirmed by advanced secondary DNA tests to be linked to the Fairbank Farms products, while secondary tests are pending on samples from other cases. Depending on these results, the number of cases associated with this outbreak may increase or decrease.

To date, CDC reports 26 cases of E. coli O157:H7 associated with the recalled Fairbank Farms ground beef products.  The states involved in this outbreak include California, Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Vermont.

Attorney Fred Pritzker, a national food safety lawyer, calls on Fairbank Farms to pay the medical expenses incurred by these E. coli victims:

“Eating a hamburger should not be a high-risk activity,” said Pritzker. “This outbreak was preventable.  Fairbank Farms should take responsibility for the harm caused by its ground beef products and immediately pay the medical expenses of those sickened while legal cases are being resolved.”

Health officials found E. coli O157:H7 in ground beef recovered from an infected person’s home that matched the outbreak-strain of E. coli O157:H7 that sickened people in this outbreak, according to the CDC:

Health officials in several states who were investigating a cluster of E. coli O157:H7 illnesses, with isolates that match by “DNA fingerprinting” analyses [PFGE analysis], 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.

E. coli O157:H7 emits a powerful Shiga toxin that attacks red blood cells in humans. Its effects can range from mild gastrointestinal discomfort to death and people who have weakened or underdeveloped immune systems — especially children under 5 and adults over 60 — are most vulnerable.

Two people have died in this outbreak, and 16 people have been hospitalized.  Of those hospitalized, three developed hemolytic uremic syndrome, or HUS. This is a life-threatening complication of E. coli O157:H7 infection that kills more than 4 percent of its victims. Even when it’s not fatal, patients often suffer life-long health consequences. HUS is the leading cause of kidney failure in children in the United States.

“The people sickened in this outbreak and their families should not be burdened with medical bills while Fairbank Farms fights over other issues, such as compensation for pain and suffering,” stated Pritzker.  “Paying the medical expenses immediately is the least Fairbank Farms can do.”

Pritzker Olsen is one of the few law firms in the United States that practices extensively in the area of E. coli litigation. For more information, call 1-888-377-8900 (toll free) or email Attorney Fred Pritzker.