3 cases of E. coli in Napa
Health officials have not released cause of outbreak
Apr 21, 2007 | www.timesheraldonline.com A small outbreak of E. coli had Napa County health officials scrambling to pin down its cause Friday."We have three confirmed cases of E. coli in Napa County and two probable cases," Napa County Health and Human Services Agency spokeswoman Theresa Richmond said.
Although health officials suspect the cause of the outbreak and its location, Richmond said they are not releasing it until the California Department of Health Services confirms the findings.
"When we have that, we will be able to release more information," she said.
On April 3, Public Health was notified by a Kaiser physician in Santa Rosa that a stool culture from a 9-year-old boy was positive for E. coli 0157:H7. The agency launched an investigation that identified the additional children who were infected.
No further cases have developed since April 4, and all the affected children have fully recovered.
Richmond said the delay in going public was due to the laborious task of finding the additional cases, investigating where the children had been and what they were doing when infected.
E. coli 0157:H7 is the same organism that caused the spinach associated outbreak last year. Infection by the bacteria often leads to bloody diarrhea and occasionally kidney failure.
People can become infected in a variety of ways, including eating contaminated food, drinking or swimming in sewage contaminated water or person-to-person contact.
For general information about E. coli infection, call the Napa County Public Health Information line at 253-4540.