E. coli Cases Associated with El Rancherito Restaurant in Effingham, IL
We just contacted the Effingham County Health Department (Illinois) to get the most up-to-date information on the E. coli cases associated with the El Rancherito restaurant in Effingham, Illinois. There are 6 confirmed cases of E. coli O157. These people ate at the El Rancherito between September 11th and 13th. E. coli symptoms appeared between September 14th and 17th. All of the people were hospitalized. One is still in the hospital. Epidemiological evidence—the fact that all of the victims ate at the El Rancherito—is all that is available so far to associate the 6 cases of E. coli with the restaurant and each other.
Genetic fingerprinting is being done on E. coli isolates from the people’s stool samples to determine if the cases of E. coli were caused by the same source and thus part of an “outbreak.” Pulse-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) is the DNA "fingerprinting" method that health officials use to determine the source of bacterial outbreaks, including E. coli outbreaks. Like human fingerprints, each bacteria and its offspring have a unique PFGE pattern. If two bacteria are found with an indistinguishable pattern, it is likely that they have a common source and are part of an outbreak. If all 6 cases of E. coli associated with the El Rancherito have matching PFGE patterns, all 6 will be considered part of an E. coli outbreak. Any food and water samples taken from the El Rancherito will also be tested for E. coli, and the PFGE patterns of any E. coli isolates will be determined.
The county is getting calls from additional people who became ill after eating at El Rancherito, but the county has not obtained any stool samples (for testing) from people since the 17th. The county has been telling people who are taking antidiarrheal medication to get off of it, so the county can get a stool sample and test for E. coli.
Attorney Fred Pritzker is a leading E. coli litigation lawyer. We are currently representing victims of outbreaks associated with restaurants and the family of a woman who died in an E. coli outbreak associated with a restaurant. We are representing several victims of a foodborne outbreak in Illinois. To contact an E. coli lawyer at the firm, please call toll-free at 1-888-377-8900 or submit the firm's online consultation form.
