June 5, 2009: E. coli Cases Reported In Maine

June 5th, 2009

The Maine Center For Disease Control and Prevention, Maine CDC, is investigating 7 cases of E. coli O157:H7 infection in Cumberland and York counties.  The illnesses occurred between April 17 and May 17.  DNA finger printing has linked at least 4 of the cases to a cluster of nationwide E. coli cases.

The Maine CDC has made the following recommendation to the medical community:

Maine CDC has enhanced shiga-toxin positive E.coli (STEC) surveillance at this time.  Practitioners seeing patients with symptoms of sustained and/or bloody diarrhea should collect stool specimens for bacterial culture and shiga-toxin testing.  Suspected or confirmed cases should be reported to the Maine CDC at 1-800-821-5821.  All positive specimens should be forwarded to HETL for confirmatory testing.

If you are experiencing E. coli food poisoning symptoms, or have a health related question contact your healthcare professional.  He or she can order a stool culture which can confirm E. coli infection. 

If you are diagnosed with E. coli, are awaiting medical confirmation of infection, or have a question regarding your legal rights, please submit a Free Legal Case Evaluation or call us toll free at 1-877-934-6274.

E. coli O157:H7 infections can be fatal.  Symptoms of infection may include severe abdominal cramps, fever, and watery diarrhea. The diarrhea may become bloody and can lead to dehydration. Severe infections can cause kidney failure. The very young, elderly, and immunocompromised are at greatest risk for experiencing complications due to E. coli infection.

You may also wish to visit our additional website dedicated to food safety at www.foodpoisoning.com.  For information concerning recent food recalls, please see E. coli Lawsuit, Salmonella Lawyer, and Listeria Lawsuit.  To learn more about the Law Firm of Eric H. Weinberg, please see Food and Drug Lawyer.

Entry Filed under: Food Poisoning Outbreaks and Recall News