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Oklahoma E. coli O111 Outbreak Revisited

By PritzkerLaw

The Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality has finished its first round of testing of some 70 private water wells located within a five mile radius of the restaurant that caused a major E. coli O111 outbreak last year.

According to the Arkansas Democrat Gazette, the testing is being done as part of the Oklahoma Attorney General's review of what caused the outbreak. State health officials never pinpointed the source of contamination at Country Cottage restaurant in Locust Grove, but the investigators said well water serving the facility was not the likely cause.

But state Attorney General Drew Edmondson issued a report recently saying that the well is and has been contaminated with poultry waste and associated bacteria, including E. coli. The area around the restaurant is populated with chicken farms and litter from the farms is routinely applied to fields in the area The attorney general's report called for testing of private wells as part of its investigation.

The poultry industry denies that waste from the farms had anything to do with the E. coli 0111 outbreak, which sickened 341 people last year. One person died in the outbreak and 72 were hospitalized.

The Country Cottage restaurant was closed for months after the outbreak occurred. When it reopened late last year, the owners agreed to a health department stipulation that well water not be used. On two different days last year before the outbreak occurred, the restaurant resorted to using well water in its kitchen because of a problem with its municipal supply of water.

Results from the recent well tests are expected to be available late in the coming week. If a well shows sign of contamination, a follow-up sample will be taken for additional testing.

Full post as published by Food Poisoning Law Blog on February 21, 2009 (boomark / email).