Food Poisoning Law Blog : Food Poisoning Lawyer & Attorney : PritzkerLaw : Food Safety, Outbreaks & Recalls

Kansas Listeria lawsuit cases are a certainty in response to the cantaloupe outbreak that has become the deadliest foodborne illness outbreak in more than 25 years. In Kansas alone, two people have died and seven have been sickened. Nearly everyone infected has been hospitalized.

Speaking in Lawrence, Kansas, this week, U.S. Deputy Secretary for Agriculture Kathleen Merrigan said the Jensen Farms cantaloupe Listeria outbreak has reaffirmed the government's resolve to undergrid our food system "so that no one has to wonder when they put their fork in their mouth if there is a bad outcome.''

The FDA, not USDA, is at the forefront of the investigation with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), but Merrigan said "we're all concerned about the cantaloupe.''

National food safety law firm PritzkerOlsen, P.A., represents victims in this 25-state outbreak and continues to accept new cases for litigation. The families of two people who have died are among the firm's clients and the legal team at PritzkerOlsen is building on the lead positiion it established for claimants in the last big U.S. Listeria outbreak: 54 illnesses, 8 deaths and three fetal deaths in nine states associated with contaminated turkey deli meat in 2002.

Although Listeria tends to infect fewer people than other human pathogens, it is typically deadlier and inordinately affects the elderly, newborns, pregnant women and anyone with a weakened immune system. People can develop meningitis from this organism and in this outbreak the CDC already has confirmed a miscarriage.

A good Listeria lawyer will know how to lay the proper foundation for the largest recovery possible -- one that will ensure coverage not just for hospital bills but pain and suffering and future harms that include loss of income and many other considerations. PritzkerOlsen is one of the very few legal groups in the country practicing extensively in the area of foodborne illness litigation and our attorneys have collected multi-million dollar settlements in the most complicated Listeria death cases, including fetal deaths. For a free case consultation, call 1-888-377-8900 (Toll Free) or leave your contact information and a lawyer from our firm will call you.

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CDC's latest guide to the Colorado Cantaloupe Listeria outbreak confirms that 23 people have died, another life has been lost to miscarriage and 116 persons all together have been infected by strains of Listeria linked to Jensen Farms cantaloupes.

The numbers are expected to grow through the end of October because listeriosis can develop two months after a person eats contaminated food. Jensen Farms of Granada, Colorado, was actively selling its melons until shortly before its recall was announced September 14. 

Cantaloupe lawsuit information from national Listeria law firm PritzkerOlsen, P.A., is available in free case consultations at 1-888-377-8900 (Toll Free) or leave your contact information and a lawyer will call you. Our firm currently represents the families of two people who have died of Listeria poisoning in this outbreak. In a previous foodborne outbreak of listeriosis, our lawyers gained a pair of multi-million dollar settlements and took a leadership role in the associated litigation involving others. 

On October 12, 2011, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) notified the public of more deaths and illnesses from the Jensen cantaloupe outbreak.

• Four outbreak strains of Listeria monocytogenes have been reported from 25 states. 
• Colorado has 5 deaths and 34 illnesses.
• New Mexico has 5 deaths and 13 illnesses.
• Texas has 2 deaths and 17 illnesses.
• Kansas has 2 deaths and 7 illnesses.
• Louisiana has 2 deaths, both newly confirmed.

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Seven people from Illinois are case patients in the turkey Salmonella outbreak that has sickened 77 people in 26 states. Ground turkey has been implicated as the cause of this outbreak in Illinois, Ohio and other states. But as of yet the investigation has not identified the brand name or the manufacturing plant where the meat came from.

The Illinois Department of Public Health, along with local health departments in Illinois, are collaborating with the CDC and USDA to investigate. The outbreak strain of Salmonella Heidelberg is resistant to some antibiotics. Any potential information on the contamination source will come from the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service, the primary regulator for meat.

Nationally, the turkey outbreak has caused one Salmonella death and the illnesses have occurred since the first day of March. The outbreak is ongoing. Of the seven cases in Illinois with the same type of Salmonella as the outbreak, at least one person has been hospitalized. Reports of illness in Illinois started on March 21, 2011, with the most recent case patient becoming ill on June 29. Case patients range in age from 3 to 60 years and were reported in Cass County, Cook County, DuPage County, Madison County, Peoria County, Will County and Williamson County. This area encompasses Chicago and other Illinois cities.

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Ohio is part of the turkey Salmonella outbreak under investigation by the Centers for Disease Control, state health departments and local offices. The Ohio Department of Health reports 10 cases occurred between April 22 and June 26, including three cases in Cuyahoga County.

Ohio turkey Salmonella cases also have been reported in Franklin, Lake, Lorian, Lucas, Montgomery, Summit and Warren counties, the Columbus Dispatch reported. They are all part of the multi-state outbreak that the CDC reports has sickened 77 people in 26 states.  So far there has been one Salmonella death in the outbreak, but not in Ohio.

Public health officials in Ohio and beyond are working to identify the precise source, but ground turkey has been implicated. The brand of ground turkey or the plant where it was packaged is not known at this time. Therefore, this outbreak of Salmonella Heidelberg has not yet prompted any turkey recall.

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In the video below, personal injury attorney Ryan Osterholm discusses Cryptosporidium infections associated with swimming pools.

Cryptosporidium is a pathogen that can cause severe diarrhea and sometimes death. It can survive in water once it is introduced via a fecal contaminant. People contract Cryptosporidium from swimming in pools and ingesting infected water.

Recently, our law firm has been contacted by a family sickened by Cryptosporidium from swimming in a pool in Ohio. We have reason to believe this outbreak affected many more people than this one family.

If you are part of this Cryptosporidium outbreak, it is important that you contact your doctor to be diagnosed and treated and contact your local health department to ensure the outbreak investigation is complete.

To contact our law firm about your Cryptosporidium claim, please call 1-888-377-8900 (toll free).

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Consumer Reports magazine has completed its second testing of store-bought raw chicken since 2007, finding only slight improvement in the percentage of fresh whole broilers contaminated with Salmonella and/or Campylobacter.

These two pathogens are the leading bacterial causes of foodborne illness in the U.S., causing 3.4 million infections, sending 25,500 to the hospital and killing 500 people a year.

According to the latest chicken test, two-thirds of the birds tested positive for Salmonella and/or Campylobacter. That compares to eight of 10 birds found contaminated in the organization's 2007 research but is still far too high by any decent food safety measure.

The bacteria commonly grows in the intestines of chickens without harming them. But when droppings from their environments attaches to the exteriors of the animals, it flakes off onto meat during processing.

Here's a summary of other findings, which Consumer Reports released via press release. Full results can be seen online at the Consumer Reports website: 

• Campylobacter was in 62 percent of the chickens, Salmonella was in 14 percent, and both bacteria were in 9 percent. 
• Only 34 percent of the birds were clear of both pathogens. That's double the percentage of clean birds we found in our 2007 report but far less than the 51 percent in our 2003 report.
• Among the cleanest overall were air-chilled broilers. About 40 percent harbored one or both pathogens. Eight Bell & Evans organic broilers, which are air chilled, were free of both, but our sample was too small to determine that all Bell & Evans broilers would be.
• Store-brand organic chickens had no Salmonella at all, showing that it's possible for chicken to arrive in stores without that bacterium riding along. But as our tests showed, banishing one bug doesn't mean banishing both: 57 percent of those birds harbored Campylobacter.
• The cleanest name-brand chickens were Perdue's: 56 percent were free of both pathogens. This is the first time since we began testing chicken that one major brand has fared significantly better than others across the board.
• Most contaminated were Tyson and Foster Farms chickens. More than 80 percent tested positive for one or both pathogens.
• Among all brands and types of broilers tested, 68 percent of the salmonella and 60 percent of the Campylobacter organisms we analyzed showed resistance to one or more antibiotics. 

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Wisconsin's last big Campylobacter outbreak caused by raw milk occurred in 2001 and warranted special attention from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the current WI raw milk outbreak of Campylobacter jejuni, officials are investigating where the unpasteurized milk came from that sickened at least 13 people. State law prohibits the sale of raw milk. More illnesses are expected to be confirmed soon and the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection is urging anyone who has raw milk to discard it.

National food safety law firm Pritzker Olsen attorneys recalls the 2001 Wisconsin Campylobacter outbreak as a large one. According to the CDC, 75 people living in Northwestern Wisconsin were victimized by contaminated milk produced on a Grade A organic dairy farm in Sawyer County.

The farm had 36 cows and distributed unpasteurized milk from the herd to people who bought into the farm's cow leasing program. The farm also gave away unpasteurized milk to tour groups. At the time, health investigators discovered that 70 of the 75 victims had consumed raw milk from the dairy farm and four others were mothers of children who were sick from it.

According to a CDC review of the outbreak, the victims ranged in age from 2 to 63 and none of them came down with Guillain-Barre' Syndrome, a complication of Campylobacter infection that can cause paralysis.

The CDC review of the 2001 raw milk outbreak said unpasteurized milk is an important vehicle for Campylobacter, E. coli O157:H7, Brucella, Salmonella and Listeria. The review also stated that Wisconsin would try to prohibit cow leasing programs for the sake of food safety and public health. 

"Persons who drink unpasteurized milk and milk products might believe that these products taste better, provide greater nutrition than pasteurized products, and/or decrease the risk of for various medical conditions,'' the CDC wrote. "However, the benefits of consuming unpasteurized milk and milk products have never been validated scientifically.''

If you or a loved one has been sickened in the current Campylobacter milk outbreak in southeastern Wisconsin and want to protect your legal rights, call a Campylobacter attorney at Pritzker Olsen, 1-888-377-8900 (Toll Free). Pritzker Olsen is one of the few law firms in the country practicing extensively in the area of foodborne illness litigation. We are involved in practically every major outbreak of food poisoning and have collected tens of millions for victims.

To receive a free case consultation from one of our lawyers, follow this link to our consultation contact forms and submit one of the forms online.  

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Getting poisoned by Salmonella or Campylobacter is not just a short-term health concern.

That's what a medical team in Denmark has concluded in a study that found these pathogens to increase the risk of inflammatory bowel disease, including Crohn's disease, for 15 years or more after a person suffers from an initial infection of either diarrheal illness.

The risk is particularly high for patients who are hospitalized for treatment of Salmonella or Campylobacter, according to Dr. Henrik Nielsen from Aarhaus University Hospital in Aalborg, Denmark, and his colleagues. Their findings are published this month in the journal Gastroenterology.

The Danish medical team compared the risks of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) between 13,148 patients with documented gastroenteritis caused by Salmonella or Campylobacter and 26,216 uninfected, healthy controls.

Over the course of seven and a half years, IBD was diagnosed in far more gastroenteritis patients (107 or 1.2 percent) than healthy control subjects (73, or .5 percent). The increased risk persisted throughout the 15-year observation period.

Reuters Health summarized a key finding: "After accounting for a variety of factors that might influence the risk, stomach bug patients had nearly a threefold increased risk of developing IBD over the entire study period, and nearly a two fold increased risk in the first year after infection.''

The study underlines what food poisoning experts at Pritzker Olsen attorneys have known for a long time: Diarrheal illnesses that people contract through no fault of their own from food contaminated with harmful bacteria is nothing to be taken lightly.  Our lawyers continually see how people suffer long-term health consequences from E. coli O157:H7, Salmonella, Campylobacter, Listeria and other adulterants in food, not to mention Hepatitis A -- which is typically spread by unsanitary practices of an infected person handling food in a restaurant.

If you or someone you know has suffered food poisoning at the hands of a meat producer, (including the Cargill E. coli outbreak),  food retailer, restaurant or caterer, protect your rights and call a food poisoning attorney. Pritzker Olsen lawyers can be contacted at 1-888-377-8900 (Toll Free). Or, to receive a free case consultation via the Internet, submit your information online.

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FOX13 out of Memphis interviewed Attorney Fred Pritzker for their story on the Salmonella outbreak associated with the A&E Bar-B-Q located at 3721 Hickory Hill, Memphis, Tennessee.  Mr. Pritzker is representing a victim of the outbreak.

(There is a short commercial before the news report because we have embedded the video in the form required by FOX13.)

 For more information, please see A&E Bar-B-Q Lawsuit.

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Well-wishers from around the country are praying for the recovery of a 1-year-old boy from Iowa who has been hospitalized with a severe complication of E. coli O157:H7 disease -- a possible victim of the multi-state JBS Swift beef outbreak.

The story of Isaiah Romero was first carried by KSFY-TV in Sioux Falls, where the boy has been receiving medical attention this week at Sanford Children's Hospital. He first became sick a few weeks ago, but an E. coli test returned negative. Then his illness progressed into HUS, or hemolytic uremic syndrome, which happens to a number of children who become infected with E. coli O157:H7. HUS is the leading cause of E. coli deaths.

Iowa isn't one of the nine states initially identified by the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention as a location of any of the known illnesses in the JBS Swift outbreak. But it's very plausible the outbreak has spread, especially in the Midwest were Wisconsin, Michigan and Minnesota have all seen cases. It's very common for the CDC to publish updates on an outbreak to cover newly found cases.

Isaiah's father was quoted in the KSFY story as saying: " It's hard on us, but with God's help we are doing OK.''

Well-wishers have been writing in to the station's website with messages of empathy and prayer. One unidentified writer said Isaiah's cousin was being treated for the same illness. That is not confirmed.

One of the most recent messages came from Susan Vaughn Grooters, public health coordinator for the food safety non-profit group known as Safe Tables Our Priority, or STOP.

"We can help navigate the public health response, the medical system, and our peer-to-peer network can help families not feel so isolated in such a difficult and unpredictable time. Our hearts go out to Isaiah and the Romero family.''

National food safety law firm Pritzker Olsen Attorneys, located in Minneapolis, is currently representing families who have had loved ones develop HUS from E. coli. Our firm is one of America's most experienced representatives of victims of foodborne illness. We have recovered millions of dollars for victims of food poisoning by holding meatpackers, food companies, restaurants, insurers and other parties accountable for dangerous pathogens in food.

To learn more, contact our firm toll-free at 1-888-377-8900 or email president Fred Pritzker at fhp@pritzkerlaw.com. To receive a free case consultation from an HUS lawyer at Pritzker Olsen, go online to complete one of our submission forms. 

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by Attorney Fred Pritzker

 A Wall Street Journal report says that inspection reports covering the past five years show that officials at Nestlé’s Danville, Va. plant, which manufactured the suspected E. coli O157:H7 tainted cookie dough, "refused to allow a Food and Drug Administration inspector to review consumer complaints or inspect its program designed to prevent food contamination." The FDA can only demand access to records if it shows “a reasonable belief” that the foods are a serious health threat.

This just goes to show how absolutely broken our food safety system is. The FDA does not even have authority to inspect a major food producing plant’s records. Thankfully, legislation currently being considered by Congress would strengthen food safety requirements for food producers, calling for them to keep more records, undergo more frequent and thorough inspections, and give the FDA access during inspections. Despite several recent national outbreaks that have sickened thousands, industry insiders made it clear that this legislation would be opposed by many in the food industry. The question that remains – how many people must get sick and die from the food they eat before the food industry acknowledges the system is broken? Hopefully Congress will decide that enough is enough and pass real food safety reform as soon as possible. 

Attorney Fred Pritzker has represented E. coli victims nationwide. If believe you are part of the Nestlé Toll House E. coli outbreak, contact Fred at 1-888-377-8900 (toll free) or by submitting our free consultation form.

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Nestle Toll House cookie dough packages are printed with a warning against raw consumption of the product. In a press release, the founder and president of national food safety law firm Pritzker Olsen Attorneys explains the emptiness of the warning and calls on Nestle to immediately pay medical bills and lost wages for victims of the ongoing Nestle cookie dough E. coli outbreak.

MINNEAPOLIS, June 23, 2009 -- Pritzker Olsen Attorneys, a national food safety law firm with extensive experience in E. coli O157:H7 litigation, has called on Nestle USA to immediately pay the medical bills, lost wages and other expenses incurred by victims of the E. coli outbreak that state and federal health officials have associated with eating uncooked Nestle Toll House cookie dough.

Fred Pritzker, founder and president of the law firm, also said that Nestle will eventually be held accountable for full compensation to victims even though Toll House cookie dough packages carry a warning against eating the product raw. According to Consumer Reports, 39 percent of American consumers make a habit of eating cookie dough raw.

"It's a popular snack eaten from the package and no one knows that better than Nestle,'' Pritzker said. "A tidy little warning against eating raw dough won't get a company off the hook for selling food that is laced with a deadly pathogen.''

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has reported that 70 individuals in 30 states have been diagnosed since March 1 with the outbreak strain of E. coli O157:H7, an organism that produces a powerful toxin that can cause severe illness and death. Thirty of the 70 victims have been hospitalized, including seven who have suffered hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), a dangerous complication that attacks a person's red blood cells and kidneys. Nestle has recalled ALL varieties of its refrigerated Toll House cookie and brownie dough and the CDC and U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have warned consumers not to eat or bake with the product.

"It is only fair that Nestle pay for the medical bills of its injured customers,'' Pritzker said. "The families deserve that peace of mind.''

He said other corporations involved in E. coli outbreaks have advanced medical expenses to those injured by their food products. "Corporate responsibility means taking concrete steps to right a wrong. It is time for Nestle to step up and guarantee that its Toll House cookie dough customers will not be stuck with hundreds of thousands of dollars in medical bills,'' he said.

Pritzker Olsen is one of the few law firms in the country practicing extensively in the area of foodborne illness litigation. The firm has recovered tens of millions of dollars for victims of food poisoning and it is involved in practically every major outbreak, including the peanut product Salmonella outbreak that sickened more than 700 people and killed nine late last year and early this year. PritzkerOlsen is representing the families of three women who died in the Salmonella outbreak and has filed a Salmonella wrongful death lawsuit against Peanut Corp. of America -- the company that federal officials have linked to the outbreak.

Currently, Pritzker Olsen is preparing information for a possible Nestle cookie dough lawsuit and it is doing some of its own investigating into the outbreak and product recall. Most of Nestle's Toll House cookie dough is produced at a factory in Danville, Virginia, where 550 people work. The plant also makes Buitoni refrigerated pasta.

To contact an E. coli  lawyer Pritzker Olsen, call 1-888-377-8900 (Toll Free) or contact us online by completing one of our forms for a free case consultation.

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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has weighed in with its first report on the Nestle cookie dough E. coli outbreak and recall, saying that young females dominate the known universe of victims.

The CDC also named all states involved in the outbreak. States with the most cases are Minnesota (6), Washington (5), Colorado (5), Illinois (5), Ohio (4), Massachusetts (4), Texas (3) and Maine (3).

The complete list -- provided by the CDC -- goes as follows:  Arkansas (1), Arizona (2), California (2), Colorado (5), Delaware (1), Hawaii (1), Iowa (2), Illinois (5), Kentucky (1), Massachusetts (4), Maryland (2), Maine (3), Minnesota (6), Missouri (2), Montana (1), North Carolina (1), New Hampshire (2), New Jersey (1), Nevada (2), Ohio (4), Oklahoma (1), Oregon (1), Pennsylvania (2), South Carolina (1), Texas (3), Utah (2), Virginia (2), Washington (5), and Wisconsin (1).

National food safety law firm Pritzker Olsen Attorneys is accepting cases from all states involved in the outbreak, which has sickened at least 66 people. Federal authorities say 25 of the victims have been hospitalized and seven have suffered hemolytic uremic syndrome, a  type of kidney failure that presents severe complications.

If you or someone you know has become ill from eating Nestle cookie dough products, see a physician and make sure E. coli test results are forwarded to your state health department. If you have been diagnosed with E. coli O157:H7 and have eaten raw cookie dough from Nestle, an E. coli attorney at Pritzker Olsen is ready to assist you. Call 1-888-377-8900 (Toll Free) or complete one of our online forms for a free case consultation.

Nestle has said that its cookie dough packages carry a warning not to eat the product raw. But everyone knows that Americans commonly eat raw cookie dough as a treat. In addition, a person could get sick without knowingly eating raw dough -- just from handling it during the cooking process and getting it on your hands.

Nestle has recalled ALL varieties of its refrigerated, prepackaged Toll House cookie and brownie dough and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and CDC have warned consumers not to eat the product raw nor bake it. See the complete recall list by clicking here.

The CDC said the illnesses have been traced to March 1. More than 70 percent of the confirmed cases are in patients under the age of 19. Three-fourths of all patients are female. The CDC said "most'' patients sickened by the outbreak strain of E. coli O157:H7 told investigators that they had eaten raw Nestle cookie dough before experiencing vomiting, cramping and diarrhea. No one over the age of 57 is in the group.

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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has provided what it says is its last formal update on the Salmonella Typhimurium outbreak linked to Peanut Corporation of America.

Since early September, 691 confirmed cases of the outbreak strain of Salmonella have been reported in 46 states. Twenty-three percent of victims have been hospitalized and more confirmed cases are continuing to trickle in.

But the CDC said Tuesday that the number of new cases has declined substantially since December, when the outbreak peaked, and that it would no longer produce formal updates. Since the first report was issued January 8, the agency provided 24 updates. Subscribers included public health professionals, the media and food safety experts, including the peanut butter Salmonella lawyers at PritzkerOlsen Attorneys, a national food safety law firm representing victims of the outbreak.

According to the final CDC update, peanut butter and other peanut products recalled by the now-bankrupt Peanut Corporation of America went into at least 2,833 products made by food manufacturers throughout the country. The comprehensive recall list is available online in a Food and Drug Administration searchable database that is still being updated with new products recalled over Salmonella fears.

No national brands of peanut butter have been associated with the outbreak.

The four states with the most confirmed cases of the outbreak strain of Salmonella are Ohio (100), California (76), Massachusetts (48) and Minnesota (43). Three of the Minnesota cases turned fatal -- more than in any other state.

PritzkerOlsen represents the families of two of the Minnesotans who died in the outbreak, Shirley Almer and Doris Flatgard. The firm also represents the family of Nellie Napier, an Ohio woman who also died. All three were living in nursing homes at the time they were infected and PritzkerOlsen has filed a Salmonella wrongful death lawsuit against Peanut Corporation of America (PCA) and King Nut Companies, an Ohio-based distributor of PCA peanut butter.

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Snohomish County health officials are investigating at least 6 cases of E. coli that may be related.   According to the Seattle Times:

Dr. Gary Goldbaum says that while at least six cases have been confirmed, health officials still don't know what caused people to become ill.

The public heath agency alerted doctors Friday afternoon that it was investigating a possible cluster of E. coli cases.

A Washington E. coli outbreak in June was associated with lettuce.  That outbreak sickened at least 9 people.

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Health officials have associated cases of E. coli O157:H7 with bagged, industrial-sized packages of iceberg lettuce sold to restaurants and institutions by Aunt Mid's Produce Company, a Detroit-based wholesale distributor.  Health officials have indicated that additional distributors may be involved in this E. coli outbreak.

To date, 26 of the E. coli cases are from Michigan, including 7 students at Michigan State University (MSU) and 3 students at the University of Michigan.

“Our top priority at the Michigan Department of Community Health is to protect the public,” said Dr. Gregory Holzman, chief medical executive for MDCH. “We appreciate all of the assistance from Aunt Mid’s. They have been very helpful in this investigation. We want to ensure that the public’s health and well-being is protected. Even though the investigation is ongoing, available evidence is strongly pointing to iceberg lettuce."

Liability in an E. coli lawsuit can be complex.  Contact attorney Fred Pritzker with questions about who is responsible for paying compensation to the victims of the outbreak.

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S&S Foods LLC., a California company, is recalling approximately 153,630 pounds of frozen bulk ground beef because the beef may be contaminated with E. coli O157:H7. 

The recalled ground beef was sold in 30 pound boxes and was intended for food service and institutional use. The frozen, bulk ground beef was shipped to distribution centers located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and Allentown, Pennsylvania.

Some of the ground beef has been linked by DNA fingerprinting to an E. coli outbreak at Goshen Scout Reservation in Virginia, according to a story in the Wall Street Journal that included statements by Laura Reiser, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service agency spokeswoman:

Reiser said the only known E. Coli cases connected to the meat are from the camp. State health officials said there are 25 confirmed cases among people who attended camp between July 20 and 26. Two campers who attended last week were also infected, and more than 80 people have shown symptoms since the outbreak, said Christopher Novak, an epidemiologist with the Virginia Department of Health.

At least one Scout, a Northern Virginia resident, remains hospitalized with hemolytic uremic syndrome, a complication that can occur when the E. coli toxin enters the bloodstream and that can lead to kidney failure, Novak said.

A box of meat from the Goshen Scout Reservation, near Lexington, had an "establishment number" corresponding to an S&S plant, Reiser said, and E. coli in the meat has been genetically matched to bacteria found in samples taken from some campers. That and other evidence led the agency to recommend the recall, Reiser said.

"Virginia tested products and provided us the information, and then we have our illness investigation, and between all that, we can say, 'Yes, these illnesses [at Goshen] are associated with this product," Reiser said.

J. Michael McMahan, an environmental health supervisor with the state Health Department, said Virginia health officials obtained the box of meat July 28, one day after the department first received reports of ill campers.

In this case, we got extremely lucky that we got a box of product left we could test," McMahan said. "That's really fairly unusual in an outbreak."

The contaminated meat went from the hands of S & S Foods, a California company, to Cargill, a Minnesota company, to a single food service customer, whose name was not released by Cargill. The food service provider for Goshen Scout Reservation was Sodexo, a worldwide food service provider.

The contaminated meat traveled from California to Virginia and landed in meals eaten by boy scouts, 25 of whom have confirmed cases of E. coli O157:H7. One scout is still in the hospital and has developed hemolytic uremic syndrome.

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Public health nurses played a crucial role in the initial identification of the Salmonella Saintpaul outbreak that has almost 1300 confirmed cases.

According to an article written by Barbara Kirchheimer and published on Nurse.com, a website that provides news and information to people involved in the healthcare industry:

Kimberlae Houk, RN, MSN, a captain with the U.S. Public Health Service and a public health nurse with the Indian Health Service at Northern Navajo Medical Center in Shiprock, N.M., was in the thick of it at the beginning of the investigation. The quick response of her team of public health nurses and of her state's epidemiologists in May helped form the basis of the national investigation that continues today.

Houk and her team formed a solid foundation for collecting information about the outbreak that would have otherwise remained inaccessible:

Because the region is extremely rural and some patients lacked telephones, the New Mexico nurses in some cases visited the homes of those who had become ill, often driving more than an hour to do so. Because some patients were on the Navajo reservation and some were off the reservation, Indian Health Service nurses worked closely with their counterparts in the state health department.

The nurses asked those who had become ill a battery of questions from a 20-page survey known as a "shotgun" questionnaire that explores potential sources of disease, from animal contact to sources of drinking water to attendance at various locations that could be contaminated. The nurses went through what each person had eaten during the week before the illness struck to attempt to identify what caused the outbreak, sometimes trying to jog memories by opening refrigerators or going through pantry shelves, Houk says. The goal was to find a common element, whether it was a food item or some kind of contact or common location.

Nurses are capable of providing a unique link between those sickened and those looking to collect information. According to Patricia Frank, RN, MSN, a regional infectious disease nurse epidemiologist with the state of New Mexico who also worked on the Salmonella outbreak, “Nurses are often able to get information from patients that others might not be able to because patients tend to trust them.”

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