Posted: September 14th, 2011 - 10:17pm by Doug Powell

Always tragic.

Wisconsin and Green County officials are trying to track down the source of an E. coli outbreak that has claimed the life of a 20-month-old girl and has sickened eight others.

RoAnn Warden, director of the Green County Health Department, said, "The Wisconsin Division of Public Health and our department here in Green County are investigating a cluster of nine confirmed E. coli 0157:H7 infections."

All of those sickened are from Green County, although Warden said they have been geographically spread out, with some in the outlying portions of the county. Some households have had multiple cases.

Sources have told The Cap Times that a 20-month-old girl from Green County died Sunday at UW Children's Hospital in Madison after being admitted about a week earlier.

Warden said the outbreak started in mid-August, and the last case occurred in early September, about a week ago.

"We have not identified a common course of exposure," she said.