North Carolina State Fair E. coli Outbreak Litigation
The North Carolina State Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) announced on November 8 that the North Carolina State Fair was the source of over 106 cases of E. coli O157:H7 amongst persons who attended the fair. On December 16, N.C. DHHS released an outbreak report, and stated that “Many activities in the Crossroads Farm Petting Zoo were associated with illness.”
DHHS had collected environmental specimens from several areas at the N.C. State Fair, and determined that the Crossroads Farm Petting Zoo site had a high number of positive specimens for E. coli O157:H7. Nineteen of thirty specimens obtained from this area were positive for E. coli, and the PFGE pattern, or genetic fingerprint, of the bacteria matched the pattern seen from 33 case-patients’ cultures.
Marler Clark commenced E. coli litigation against Crossroads Farm Petting Zoo on December 17, 2004 when the firm filed a lawsuit on behalf of four children who became ill with E. coli infections.
More about the Crossroads Farm Petting Zoo E. coli outbreak at the North Carolina State Fair is available in the Case News section of the site.