A four-year-old girl is still hospitalized in serious condition with hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) that developed after an E. coli 0157:H7 infection. The little girl, along with 74 others, became ill after attending a customer appreciation picnic held by Neff’s Lawn Care in Germantown, Ohio.
Fourteen people have been hospitalized in the outbreak. A 73-year-old man died on July 24, 2012 from his illness. But a 14-year-old boy who was in serious condition with HUS was released from the hospital this week.
Officials still do not know what caused the outbreak. More than 300 people attended the picnic on July 3, 20121, and many brought food to share. Public health authorities are working to try to solve the outbreak. But since there were not many leftovers of food, pinpointing the exact cause of the outbreak is very difficult.
If anyone attended that picnic and became ill, please contact your health care provider. And then ask her to call the Dayton & Montgomery County Health Department at 937-225-4460 to report the illness. Your case may solve the mystery of this outbreak.
