More than a month has passed since the first of the 106 victims in North Carolina’s Cleveland County Fair E. coli outbreak began showing symptoms of infection. This week brought bittersweet news regarding two of those victims. First, the good: After 35 days in care, 12-year-old Jordan McNair was discharged from Levine Children’s Hospital in Charlotte on Thursday. But Thursday was also the day 5-year-old Hannah Robertson was readmitted to Levine two weeks since being discharged. Her parents told WBTV that she had been suffering side-effects of her infection. On Friday, North Carolina health officials declared the fair’s petting zoo exhibit the cause of the outbreak. Runoff from heavy rains during the fair may have helped spread the contamination to other parts of the fair, they added. The fair ended Oct. 7. In the week that followed, 2-year-old Gage Lefevers of Gastonia died from his E. coli infection. Among his many activities at the fair on Sept. 30, McNair — the boy discharged on Thursday — milked a cow at the petting zoo. But when he was finished, the hand-washing station only contained a small bit of soap, his mom told the Associated Press. Five days later, he was hospitalized. He’s now still taking three medications and requires weekly lab tests, but he’s on schedule to return to his middle school in Cherryville next week. And in a bit of hopeful news for Robertson, the girl readmitted to the hospital on Thursday, doctors told her parents they don’t think her latest symptoms are anything serious.
James Andrews is a Seattle-based reporter covering science, agriculture and foodborne illness outbreaks. He holds degrees in Environmental Journalism and English and has previously worked as a science writer for the National Park Service. His reporti
Authorities in Lithuania are investigating two cases of foodborne botulism linked to fish sold at a market.
The State Food and Veterinary Service (VMVT) conducted an inspection at a market
Parents in Arizona are reporting that their children became infected with E. coli after interaction with animals at the Arizona State Fair petting zoo.
A non-profit group that works with
A Salmonella Enteritidis outbreak traced to eggs that sickened more than 100 people has been declared over by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
There were 105 confirmed patients
Rwanda has lifted a ban on some South African food products that was put in place in 2017 because of a Listeria outbreak that sickened more than 1,000 people.
Pick up any item in the supermarket and read through the ingredient labeling. Nearly all of the ingredients listed have the potential to be vulnerable to food fraud, according to
Food Safety News recently sat down with Mitchell Weinberg at IAFP 2015 in Portland, OR, to discuss the extent of global food fraud and how we can combat it. Weinberg
Food Safety News sat down with McGill University Associate Professor Lawrence Goodridge, Ph.D., at IAFP 2015 in Portland, OR, in late July to discuss Salmonella and his team’s
A food safety team at Montreal’s McGill University has been awarded $10 million for a study intended to answer remaining questions about Salmonella and how food growers can better
