United States: According to the Flathead County official’s reports on Wednesday, an E. coli outbreak caused one death and sickened dozens of others.
More about the news
The Flathead City-County Health Department release informed that the preliminary investigations have recovered ground beef containing E. coli bacteria, which was supposed to be sold directly to several restaurants from a distributor.
According to the reports, the contaminated product was not sold in grocery stores. The last date to be known for its consumption is said to be July 14.
Moreover, county health officials are investigating to ensure the safety of all affected facilities so that the remaining infected product can be removed, as dailyinterlake.com reported.
The officials are investigating the outbreak with the state and local health agencies.
About E. coli infection severity
Until now, the investigation agency has encountered thirteen people coming positive for infection after the outbreak, involving one death case and another facing moderate-severe symptoms.
The common symptoms of E. coli infection involve cramps related to the stomach, diarrhea with blood, high fever, and chills. Organ damages are also reported in severe cases.
What more are the official reports stating?
The statement of the Flathead City-County Health Department Population Health Supervisor Malia Freeman stated that because of the ongoing investigation, the agency is refraining from revealing the names of those restaurants that came under scanner after the incident.
The officials have yet to await laboratory confirmation to locate the outbreak source, although Freeman also mentioned that almost all the restaurants in Flathead County are associated with the cases.
Flathead City-County Health Department Health Officer Jennifer Rankosky said the staff has sent condolences to all family and friends affected by this death.
Rankosky said, “Our staff continued to work diligently through this investigation and were able to identify a suspect source early to mitigate risks and prevent others from getting sick,” as dailyinterlake.com reported.
Freeman added that the agency received the information about the positive E. coli cases through the Montana Infectious Disease Information System.
Freeman said, “Once we receive notification, we contact the individual and conduct a case investigation. The case investigation asks questions regarding potential exposures of the individuals by collecting a food history, asking about travel, recreational activities, and animal exposures (among other factors).”
She added, “Our environmental health and communicable disease teams work very closely on these types of outbreaks.”