E. Coli Outbreak Hits South, June 7 2011

NATE MORABITO
Tri Cities
Lab results confirm the presence of E. coli in the child that died this weekend and the presence of the bacteria in a close contact of the child, Virginia Department of Health Public Information Officer Robert Parker said.

“The lab results confirm the presence of E. coli 0157:H7,” Parker said. “That’s a strain of E. coli that causes severe illness.”

Northeast Regional Health Office Medical Director Dr. David Kirschke also confirms a similar severe strain in Northeast Tennessee.

“We have one case of the severe type in Tennessee,” Dr. Kirschke said. “It may be similar to what the two kids from Virginia had.”

In the Tennessee case, Dr. Kirschke said a Northeast Tennessee child is suffering complications in a Knoxville hospital.

Meanwhile, he says there are seven other confirmed cases of E. coli from four Northeast Tennessee counties.

“Everyone is doing fine,” Dr. Kirschke said of those seven people. “From the initial tests, these look like the less severe type of E coli. We are treating it like an outbreak. We are investigating it like an outbreak.”

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