E. coli HUS clusters targeting children have popped up in Oregon, Kentucky and Minnesota over the last month. A traveling petting zoo was found to be the source of an August E.coli outbreak in Minnesota that hospitalized three children and sickened 10 other people. Two of those hospitalized had HUS, or hemolytic uremic syndrome, a life-threatening complication of E. coli infections that causes kidney failure, seizure, stoke and coma.
Earlier this month, three children in Oregon and one in Washington were hospitalized with HUS. Health officials believe two of the cases are linked but have not pinpointed the source. The families of Brad Sutton, 5, and Serena Profitt, 4, spent time together before the children got sick. Brad remains hospitalized and has been receiving dialysis treatments. Serena died last week.
Before they became ill, the children swam in a pond fed by running irrigation water, shared a turkey sandwich at a restaurant, ate watermelon purchased from a Walmart and had exposure to a goat and other animals. Health officials are awaiting test results that could narrow the search for the source.
Aubrie Utter, 3, was also diagnosed with E.coli HUS kidney failure at the end of August. Aubrie was hospitalized for a week and underwent five blood transfusions. Her family spent time near the same river Serena and Brad visited and also ate watermelon from a Walmart before Aubrie became ill.
Health officials do not believe that Brooklyn Hoksbergen’s E.coli death is related to the Oregon cases. Brooklyn died last week. She was 3 and half years old.
In Kentucky, five children are hospitalized with HUS. The first case was reported at the end of August the most recent case was last week. The children, who range in age from 18 months to 6 years old, come from Oldham, Hardin and Nelson counties. Some of them ate watermelon before they became sick, but did not purchase it from Walmart.
