Amy M.E. Fischer / The Daily News
October 29, 2012
Two more young children have fallen ill with E. coli after visiting a Longview pumpkin patch and petting zoo earlier this month, for a total of four cases, the Cowlitz County Health Department announced Monday.
All the children visited Willow Grove Gardens between Oct. 10 and Oct. 20 and got sick with the bacterial infection between Oct. 14 and Oct. 22, said Hilary Gillette-Walch, the health department’s clinical services manager. Willow Grove Gardens is a certified organic farm operated by Michael and Ruth McKee at 8561 Willow Grove Road. The couple’s crops include pumpkins, peppers, cucumbers, melons, green beans and winter squash.
The health department issued an advisory Friday after laboratory tests confirmed one of the first two cases. All four cases involve children under age 10, Gillette-Walch said.
The children whose cases were reported Monday have not been hospitalized, she said. However, one child in the two cases reported last week had spent several days in the hospital, the agency reported at the time.
Continue reading "Health Officials Identify 2 More E. coli Cases Linked to Pumpkin Farm" at the Longview Daily News site.