Updated November 25 with information from the Arizona Health Department. At least eight children in Maricopa County, AZ, have recently been hospitalized with E. coli infections. Is the petting zoo at the Arizona State Fair the source of an E. coli outbreak?
Pritzker Hageman E. coli lawyers, who represent the family of a child sickened in this outbreak, are investigating.
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Arizona E. coli Outbreak
Sommer Lee of Gilbert told AZ Central that her 16-year-old daughter, who spent four days at Phoenix Children’s Hospital in early November, is one of eight children with E. coli infections recently treated at the hospital. All of them had visited the fair before they became ill, she said. Now the fair’s petting zoo is being investigated as a possible source.
The Arizona State Fair ended in late October after a month-long run at the fairgrounds in Phoenix. Ruminant animals, such as cattle, sheep, and goats, are the primary reservoirs of E. coli that produce Shiga toxins that are poisonous to humans. Visitors who pet the animals can get E. coli on their hands and become sick if they eat or touch their mouths before thoroughly washing their hands.
State health officials told Food Poisoning Bulletin that on November 13, they issued a Healthcare Advisory “related to a two-fold increase of E. coli O157:H7 during the month of October, including an increase in hospitalizations involving hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), a serious complication linked to this infection.”
Symptoms of an E. coli Infection and HUS
Symptoms of an E. coli infection, which usually develop within one to three days of exposure, include abdominal cramps and diarrhea that can be bloody. About seven percent of E. coli patients develop hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), a form of kidney failure.
Over-the-counter anti-diarrheal medications and antibiotics should not be given to patients with E. coli infections as they can increase the chance of developing HUS.
HUS symptoms usually set in about one week after E. coli symptoms and include:
- Pale skin
- Extreme fatigue, lethargy
- Skin that easily bruises
- Decreased urine output
- Bloody diarrhea
Anyone with these symptoms should seek immediate medical care as HUS can be fatal. Treatment for HUS includes blood transfusions, dialysis, plasma exchange, and kidney transplants.
Related
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- E. coli-HUS Wrongful Death Lawsuit Filed against County Fair
Experienced E. coli Lawyers
Our E. coli lawyers have recovered multi-million dollar settlements and verdicts for children sickened by E. coli-HUS after visiting petting zoos, including a $7.55 million verdict on behalf of a 10-year-old child who contracted an E. coli HUS from animals on a pumpkin farm.
- In 2022, Pritzker Hageman filed a lawsuit on behalf of one- and three-year-old girls who suffered E. coli infections and HUS after visiting animal displays at the Waseca County Fair. A total of six people were sickened in that outbreak.
- In 2021, our firm represented two children who developed HUS from E. coli infections they contracted from the 2021 Chiaha Harvest Fair. That outbreak caused nine illnesses.
- In 2020, Pritzker Hageman E. coli lawyers filed a lawsuit on behalf of a 4-year-old boy who suffered permanent kidney damage from an E. coli infection. He was one of 11 people sickened in an E. coli outbreak linked to an educational exhibit at the Minnesota State Fair that features the live birth of cows, pigs, sheep, goats, and other animals.
If your child developed an E. coli infection after visiting the petting zoo at the Arizona State Fair and you would like a free consultation with an experienced E. coli lawyer, please contact the Pritzker Hageman E. coli Legal Team. You can reach us by calling 1-888-377-8900, sending a text to 612-261-0856, or by completing the form below. There is no obligation and you don’t pay us unless we win.