Update: Our law firm obtained a $7.55 million verdict for a child with E. coli kidney failure linked to this business. Contact Attorney Fred Pritzker if your child has been diagnosed with this deadly illness after visiting a business that has an animal-contact exhibit.
Minnesota attorney Fred Pritzker is investigating the Twin Cities E. coli O157 outbreak linked to petting zoo animals on Dehn’s Pumpkin Patch, a farm in Dayton, MN. There are three laboratory-confirmed cases of E. coli O157, three children between the ages of 15 months and 7 years. Two others, one adult and one child, have suspected cases of E. coli O157. All confirmed and suspected cases had some contact with cows and/or goats at the farm, according to the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH).
One child is hospitalized with hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), a severe complication of an E. coli infection that causes kidney failure (renal failure), which then causes a host of other serious health problems, including seizures, stroke, coma, heart failure, pancreatitis and respiratory failure. E. coli-HUS can be fatal.
Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) tests on isolates of E. coli bacteria from victims’ stools found they (the bacteria) had matching DNA fingerprints. When people are sickened by E. coli bacteria with the same DNA fingerprint, it means that they were sickened by the same source. This is evidence that the farm animals are the source of the outbreak.
The three children with confirmed cases of E. coli O157 visited the farm on October 12 or 13, and became ill on October 16 or 18. The two suspected cases visited the farm on October 18. E. coli has an incubation period from 3 to 10 days (usually not more than 8). For this reason, it is possible that other cases will surface.
Attorney Fred Pritzker and his Bad Bug Law Team help E. coli and HUS victims and their families. You can contact Fred or another E. coli lawyer at our law firm about an E. coli lawsuit at 1-888-377-8900 (toll free). Get your free consultation here.
