The Jackson County E. coli outbreak has been updated by the Jackson County Department of Health in their September 2021 Flash Report.  The number of cases remains at 16, with 12 patients hospitalized. There has been no change in the number of patients since the last update in late August, 2021. However, there is more information in this update about the patients themselves. The patient age range is from 11 months to 65 years, with the median age 23.5 years. Most of those sickened are in their teens and twenties, and most are male. County health officials are working with the Oregon Health Authority on this Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) outbreak. There is still not a definitive hypothesis on the source of infection. Genome sequencing has been completed on patient isolates, … [Read more...]