Two girls who visited county fair believed to have E. coli
Children, ages 4 and 2, are hospitalized, pushing number of cases to seven.
A 4-year-old girl is the second child to be hospitalized with a suspected E. coli infection after visiting the San Diego County Fair.
Public health officials said Friday that the total number of cases identified in the fair’s ongoing E. coli outbreak has reached seven from its previous total of five. The 4-year-old and a 2-yearold girl each tested positive for shiga toxin, a shared characteristic of all E. coli bacteria linked to all fair cases identified to date.
The new cases are currently classified as “probable” because the bacterial cultures necessary to confirm E. coli’s presence are not yet complete. But it is clear that both girls had animal contact at the fair, the 4year-old on June 21 and the 2-year-old on June 22, falling ill on June 29 and June 26, respectively.
Dr. Eric McDonald, medical director of the county’s epidemiology and immunization services branch, said little Friday about the medical reasons for the 4-yearold’s hospitalization. He did indicate that she is not suffering from hemolytic uremic syndrome, the severe kidney complication that contributed to the death of 2-year-old Jedidiah King Cabezuela. The boy died at Rady Children’s Hospital on June 24 after visiting the Del Mar Fairgrounds on June 15.
The number of outbreakrelated cases could hit 10 over the weekend. McDonald said Friday that there are an additional three cases under investigation that have either tested positive for shiga toxin or that have fallen ill after visiting the fair but have not yet tested shiga positive.