Camp and cheeseburgers shouldn't kill - mother and son describe effects of E. coli O157 illness linked to Rhode Island camp; 'I want it to be Ponderosa night again'
Stephen Smith of the Boston Globe writes this morning,
The signs of trouble arrived deep in the night: first, bloody diarrhea, then nausea
Austin Richmond nor his mother knew it at the time, but he had been infected with a potentially lethal germ known as E. coli O157:H7. And, according to a lawsuit filed yesterday, the 11-year-old from Lincoln, R.I., caught it doing what many children do when they are away at camp, by eating a cheeseburger.
There were trips to the emergency room, trips to the doctor’s office, and initial confusion over what was causing him to be so sick. For more than two weeks, Austin, a sixth-grader, has been banished from school and not just because of his own illness. There is also concern that, because his immune system has been so ravaged battling the E. coli infection, he might prove especially susceptible to swine flu, which killed another student at Lincoln Middle School over the weekend.
Austin’s mother, Jaimee Richmond, said,
“He just wants to go back to being him. He wants to be able to play soccer. He wants to go to Boy Scouts. He wants to go back to church, which are words I never thought I would hear coming out of his mouth. … “I’m angry, I’m sad, I’m confused, I’m overwhelmed. I just want to go back to normal life. Tuesday night, it used to be Ponderosa night because it’s cheap, it’s family, the kids loved it. I just want it to be Ponderosa night again.’’
Two girls ill in UK E. coli outbreak; Facebook used to notify potential victims from UK dance camp
BBC News reports that two girls who attended a dance camp in Pembrokeshire have contracted E.coli, it has been confirmed.
An 11-year-old from the West Midlands is being treated in hospital and a seven-year-old from Denbighshire is recovering at home.
Both had attended Dance Camp Wales in Cresselly, which runs between 29 July and 9 August.
Social networking website Facebook is being used to try to contact about 650 people who attended a dance camp after two girls contracted E.coli.
Environmental health officials are also sending letters, e-mails and phoning, where they have contact details.
A spokeswoman said they had turned to Facebook because the event has its own group on the website.
People who experience symptoms are asked to contact Pembrokeshire council's public protection department on 01437 764551 (between 1000 BST and 1800 BST on weekends and between 0800 BST and 1800 BST on weekdays) or email foodsafety@pembrokeshire.gov.uk.
50 kids sickened by Salmonella in pudding at NH camp; it was the pudding mixer
Health officials say a mixer used to make pudding was the source of salmonella that sickened over 50 children at the Stone Environmental Camp in Madison, N.H., this month.
The food for the campers is prepared by Purity Springs, where the camp is located. Officials said the mixer is sanitized after each use, but a possible defect may have allowed bacteria to get to an area where it couldn't be cleaned out.
Culture, camp, pregnancy and ... synchronized diving?
Why is synchronized diving an Olympic sport?
I don’t know either, but it caught the attention of my dining companions, each with their own food safety story to share.
Philippa Ross-James, Program Manager Communications, with the New Zealand Food Safety Authority, gave a great talk Monday morning at Kansas State University, sharing the agency’s experience promoting food safety practices in culturally acceptable ways with New Zealand's indigenous people -- Maori, and New Zealand's Pacific peoples.
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The take home messages: build trust, get out of the office, and be in it for the long term. That’s Philippa (right), with Curtis Kastner, director of Kansas State’s Food Science Institute, me, Philippa, and Lisa Freeman, associate dean for research at K-State’s vet college, and a v.p. at K-State’s new Olathe innovation campus.
My youngest daughter, Courtlynn, is back from camp and spending some time in Manhattan (Kansas). She told me on the last day of camp, the chicken that was served was still cold in the middle. A camp counselor came around and told the kids, don’t eat the chicken, it’s not cooked.
If you’re making food for 300 or so kids, have some standard operating procedures, and use a damn thermomter.
Finally, during the synchro swimming display last night, pregnant Amy inquired about the bruschetta with goat cheese. It was a soft cheese and there is a risk of post-processing contamination – the soft cheese can support listeria growth if contaminated with a knife or someone’s dirty hand – so she didn’t order it, but I had to ask, “Is the goat cheese made from raw or pasteurized milk.”
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The waiter didn’t have a clue, but did offer to ask, returned from the kitchen, and said it was made from pasteurized milk, and someone had asked the chef the same question last week.
Consumers can ask questions.
Philippa left for the 30-something hour trek back to Wellington this morning.
Courtlynn, Amy and I are heading to Florida for some much needed beach time.
E. coli at camp; 13 Scouts sickened
She went to camp for the first time when she was 7. At the time I wrote, Looks like I picked the wrong week to send my kids to camp. From sea to diarrheal sea, North Americans have been stricken by illnesses most likely transmitted in food. Two years ago, Canada was just beginning to have some myths shattered about Canadian clean water as reports trickled out regarding an outbreak of E. coli O157:H7 in Walkerton, Ont. In the end, 2,300 were sickened and seven killed, all in a town of 5,000.
Now, 29 attendees at a cheerleading camp in Washington State have been stricken with the same bug, including a teenager whose kidneys were so damaged that she is on dialysis. Sleuthing by health investigators sparked a U.S.-wide recall of a brand of Romaine lettuce on Monday, which was clearly implicated in the outbreak.
This morning, I could only sigh and be thankful my youngest returned without diarrheal incident.
Health officials have confirmed that at least 13 boys, all but one from Northern Virginia, contracted E. coli bacterial infections while attending a popular Scout camp in Goshen, Va. …
Since the outbreak, Scout officials have taken steps to reduce the risk of further contamination by temporarily removing ground beef -- a common source of E. coli -- from camp menus; distributing hand sanitizers; and encouraging hand-washing and proper hygiene.
At some point people may realize E. coli O157:H7 is present in the environment and could be in lots of foods and water – not just ground beef.
