Healthy Living: Local News

Deadly E.Coli Outbreak

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By: By WKBW News

Story Updated: Jun 8, 2012

(WKBW/ABC News) 14 people have already gotten sick and a little girl has died, after an outbreak of E.coli bacteria.

Now, the nation's top disease detectives are urgently trying to find and contain this deadly strain of E.coli.

The problem is they're not sure where to start.

Officials believe the victims all contracted the same deadly strain of E.coli. It carries a genetic fingerprint that produces a deadly toxin and can cause violent reactions, kidney damage, even death.

A 21-month old girl died of the disease last week in New Orleans.

The largest cluster is in Atlanta where they had 5 cases. In Louisiana, four, Alabama, two, and Tennessee, Florida and California each had one.

There is no concrete evidence for the source yet, but now that summer is
upon us a likely culprit is undercooked ground beef.

As we break out our grills, officials are reminding us to thoroughly cook
our food.

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stephen melinger said on Wednesday, Jun 13 at 5:43 PM

Restaurant workers need to either wear gloves or wash frequently. Also food should be kept cold or hot and not at temperatures in between. Cut or sliced food can pick up germs and even uncut fruit like melons should be washed thoroughly.

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