Oregon health officials think they’ll be able to prove deer droppings in a Washington County strawberry field caused an E. coli outbreak that killed one person and sickened 14 others. Ten percent of the samples taken from the Jaquith Strawberry Farm tested positive for the bacteria, epidemiologist William Keene said Thursday.
“We’re increasingly confident that we will be able to prove beyond any reasonable doubt that deer were the source of contamination of the strawberries,” Keene said.
Of the 15 people involved, two suffered kidney failure, including an elderly woman in Washington County who died. Two patients remain in the hospital.