E. coli Confirmed in Hyrum, Utah
Three people have tested positive for E. coli in Cache County, Utah, in the last few weeks, and several other people have reported being sick with symptoms of E. coli. All of the confirmed and reported cases are people who live in one subdivision of Hyrum, Utah.
Health officials are investigating every possible source of the Hyrum E. coli outbreak. Because the city of Hyrum recently replaced a water line to the affected subdivision, one suspected source of the E. coli outbreak is the Hyrum subdivision's drinking water
Health officials are testing the drinking water. If E. coli is found, molecular testing can be done to determine whether it is the same E. coli strain that sickened the subdivision residents. In the last 13 years, drinking water has been the source of 10 E. coli outbreaks.
E. coli is a dangerous pathogen that can lead to hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), the primary cause of kidney failure in children in the United States. Hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) is often fatal. According to a story in the Herald Journal, E. coli has already spread to the kidneys of 16-month-old Emily Sanders, the youngest victim of the Hyrum E. coli outbreak.
Source: Charles Geraci, "E. coli Strikes Hyrum," Herald Journal, July 4, 2006.
