Posted: August 24th, 2010 - 7:31pm by Doug Powell

Traverse City, Michigan, is sorta famous in food safety circles because a 1982 outbreak of E. coli O157:H7 was the first time the bug was identified as a cause of human disease, after 47 people in and Traverse City and White City, Oregon, developed severe stomach disorders after eating hamburgers at McDonald’s outlets.

Reporting on E. coli O157:H7 in the New York Times began on 8 October 1982 with prompt coverage of this first known outbreak. Researchers at the U.S. Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said the bacterium associated with the outbreaks was normally killed by cooking. The next day, federal epidemiologists characterized the disease as an intestinal ailment that had not proven fatal and was not a major public health hazard ; yet by Nov. 5, 1982 another 29 cases were reported.

In 1983, CDC issued a report on the Oregon and Michigan outbreaks and by 1984, the first report on the behavior of the organism and possible control measures appeared.

Today, the Grand Traverse County Health Department reported it had received reports of three probable cases of shigatoxin-producing E. coli in the past week.

All cases were in children and all three attended the Northwestern Michigan Fair in Grand Traverse County between August 9 and August 13.

The onset of symptoms, including bloody diarrhea, were between August 15 and August 17.

Dr. Michael Collins, Medical Director for the Grand Traverse County Health Department said,

"Considering the number of animals in close proximity to people at that venue, it seems likely that their infections were contracted there. Though we will probably never know exactly which animal or animals were involved as sources.”

The water supply at the Fairgrounds was tested prior to the event and will be re-tested for possible contamination. Area physicians were also notified and encouraged to obtain stool cultures for individuals with severe or bloody diarrhea.