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Outbreak of E. coli at Day Camp Petting Zoo

By PritzkerLaw

This week's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), a CDC publication, has an article about an E. coli outbreak associated with a day camp petting zoo:

On June 7, 2007, the Pinellas County Health Department in central Florida was notified by a private physician regarding a positive laboratory result for Shiga toxin--producing Escherichia coli O157 (STEC O157) infection in a child aged 9 years. Initial interviews revealed the child had attended a week-long session at a day camp and had come into contact with animals in the camp's petting zoo. On June 8, an investigation was begun by the Pinellas County Health Department; the same day, the petting zoo was closed on the recommendation of the health department.

The outbreak investigation identified seven cases of E. coli O157 infection: four laboratory-confirmed primary cases, two probable primary cases, and one laboratory-confirmed secondary case, all associated directly or indirectly with the petting zoo. Two children were hospitalized.

The symptoms reported were as follows:

• Diarrhea with bloody stools (four patients)
• Diarrhea without bloody stools (three)
• Abdominal cramping (four)
• Nausea (two)
• Vomiting (two)
• Fever (two)

Both epidemiological and microbiological evidence associated the petting zoo with the E. coli outbreak:

All four campers with primary confirmed cases reported contact (e.g., petting, carrying, and feeding) with the petting zoo animals. Direct contact with the animals also was reported by a camper with probable infection; whether the second camper with probable infection had animal contact was unknown. Investigation revealed no common food, beverage, or recreational water exposures that might account for the STEC O157 infections.

Stool specimens from five of the seven children were collected during May 31--June 12. Specimens from the 30 zoo animals and four soil samples from the grounds of the petting zoo were collected by the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services on July 23. Four human clinical isolates of E. coli O157:NM (nonmotile), nine isolates from goats, and all four soil isolates had an identical pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) pattern (EXHX01.0202) when tested at the Florida Public Health Laboratory. The PFGE pattern did not match any of the 30 other STEC O157 strains collected in Florida's E. coli database in 2007 and did not match any of the strains in the CDC PulseNet database. One isolate from a goat had a different PFGE pattern from the human clinical isolates.

On June 8, the first day of the Pinellas County Health Department investigation, the petting zoo was closed on the recommendation of the county health department. The zoo animals were placed under quarantine for E. coli O157:NM colonization. Subsequently, no additional cases of STEC O157 infection were reported among campers or staff members.

This a good reminder to petting zoo operators that they should adhere to CDC guidelines for supervised handwashing and other prevention measures (e.g., no eating near the pens) when children are around animals.

Full post as published by Food Poisoning Law Blog on May 01, 2009 (boomark / email).