An E. coli O157:H7 outbreak associated with ground beef has sickened 3 people and may have killed a seven-year-old girl in Cleveland, Ohio. People in Illinois and Pennsylvania were also sickened in this outbreak.

According to the Ohio Department of Health, the three people sickened in Cleveland were a 3-year-old girl, a 24-year-old man and a 71-year-old man. Two were hospitalized. Health officials did not reveal the name of the girl who died or whether she had developed hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), a deadly complication of E. coli poisoning.

Epidemiological evidence has linked this E. coli outbreak in Cleveland with ground beef products produced by Valley Meats LLC of Coal Valley, Illinois. On March 21, 2009, Valley Meats recalled almost 96,000 pounds of frozen patties and refrigerated ground beef produced on March 10. The recalled meat was sold to restaurants and food service accounts.

Two restaurants are part of the investigation in Cleveland, and people would like to know which restaurants they are. We received a comment on our food poisoning blog from a woman who knows the seven-year-old who died:

The 7 yr old that died attended my daughters school. Of course they did not release the information surrounding her death. My concern is as follows, the lunches at the elementary school are catered by a local restaurant. Since the names of the restaurants being investigated are not being released I fear there is a possibility it could be the one supplying lunches to the school. It is inconceivable that not only would the school but also the health department put more children at risk by not disclosing such important information

We agree that the names of the restaurants should be disclosed. If these restaurants had followed USDA guidelines for cooking the ground beef, it is likely no one would have become sick because E. coli can be killed with heat. Consumers should know that these restaurants served under-cooked ground beef. Moreover, E. coli can have a long incubation period. There may be people who ate contaminated ground beef at the restaurant and need to watch for symptoms of E. coli poisoning.

Victims of this outbreak and their families may seek compensation from Valley Meats LLC, the restaurants where they ate the contaminated ground beef, and others.

If you have been sickened by E. coli or lost a loved one to E. coli, please contact our law firm for a free consultation with an attorney by calling 1-888-377-8900 (toll free) or completing our free case consultation form. We have represented E. coli victims from most major outbreaks and are currently representing the family of a person who died in Ohio from Salmonella poisoning.

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