On May 29, 2007, the Fresno County Department of Community Health (FCDCH) announced in a press release that the agency was investigating an E. coli O157:H7 outbreak among several Fresno County, California, residents. By the next day, FCDCH had confirmed eight individuals as part of the outbreak.
Further investigation into the E. coli outbreak revealed that all infected individuals had attended parties catered by the same food vendor in the week before becoming ill.
Since initial reports of illness were received by DCH on Saturday, May 26, 2007, the Fresno County Public Health Laboratory conducted testing on human and environmental samples to isolate E. coli O157. Twenty-seven of these human samples tested positive for E. coli O157. Of these 27, 11 were identified as H:7 serotype matches through CDHS laboratory tests.
FCDCH urged consumers who had purchased cooked tri-tip from The Grill at the Meat Market on May 18 or 19 to discard the product, as it was at risk for contamination with E. coli O157:H7. In conjunction with the health department’s announcement, the Meat Market issued a recall of all cooked tri-tip sold during the two days in mid-May that were associated with the E. coli outbreak.
Marler Clark resolved claims on behalf of three victims of the Fresno Meat Market E. coli outbreak.