E. coli Linked to Palisades Country Day Camp

Posted on August 13, 2006 by PritzkerLaw
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The New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services is investigating an Escherichia coli (E. coli) outbreak that may be linked to Palisades Country Day Camp & School in Closter, New Jersey. According to health officials, seven (7) people have E. coli O157:H7 infections and seven (7) others have symptoms consistent with E. coli infections. Eight (8) of the fourteen (14) were hospitalized with severe dehydration and are now home.

New Jersey health officials are looking at several possible sources of the E. coli outbreak, including 4 pools and a petting zoo at the probable location of the outbreak, Palisades Country Day Camp & School in Closter, New Jersey. Food and water consumed from August 1 through August 6 at the camp are also possible sources of the outbreak.

Palisades Country Camp & School in Closter has 4 pools and a petting zoo. Pools and petting zoos have been sources for past E. coli outbreaks. In one case, a pool was not adequately chlorinated. Ten (10) people were infected with E. coli O157:H7. In 2002, Eight (8) children were infected with E. coli O157:H7 at a backyard kiddie-pool party in Maine.

During 2004-2005, three outbreaks of Escherichia coli O157:H7 infections occurred among agricultural fair, festival, and petting zoo visitors in North Carolina, Florida, and Arizona. One hundred eight cases, including 15 cases of hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), were reported in the North Carolina outbreak; 63 cases, including seven HUS cases, were reported in the Florida outbreak; and two cases were reported in Arizona.

Sources:

  1. Friedman MS, Roels T, Koehler JE, Feldman L, Bibb WF, Blake P, Escherichia coli O157:H7 outbreak associated with an improperly chlorinated swimming pool, Clinical Infectious Diseases, 29(2), August 1999: 298-303.
  2. Outbreaks of Escherichia coli O157:H7 Associated with Petting Zoos --- North Carolina, Florida, and Arizona, 2004 and 2005, Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), no. 54(50), December 23, 2005: 1277-1280.
  3. Park, E., Campers sickened in E. coli outbreak, The Record, August 11, 2006.
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