All News / Outbreaks /

Outbreak May Be Over, But Suffering Continues In Locust Grove, OK

There are places with bad karma and it makes you wonder why. Locust Grove, OK is such a place. The town of 1500 was, 30 years ago, the center for the murders of three Girl Scouts at camp. Murders that remain unsolved. Then there was the more recent killing of an elderly couple south of town. Killings that remain unsolved.

Now there’s the outbreak of E. coli 0111 that made more than 300 sick and killed 26-year old Chad Ingle, a bank teller and newlywed from the nearby town of Pryor. Officially the outbreak is over, but the suffering continues.

KJRH-TV 2 in Tulsa reports:

13-year-old Lexy Morton was hospitalized due to E. coli for five weeks.

"She went through kidney dialysis. She had trouble with her pancreas, her kidneys, and her liver. She’s lost a lot of muscle mass and a lot of weight," said Becky Morton, Lexy’s mother.

She’s been out of the hospital for a week now, but her treatments aren’t over yet, "They’re still taking bloodwork. We have to go a couple of times a week to the doctor," said Morton.

The Morton family is uninsured and now coping with $800,000 in medical bills. For more, go here.

Health officials have yet to find out how the 0111 strain of E coli got into the Country Cottage restaurant in Locust Grove, where most of the victims contacted the bacteria.

Whether or not it will remain another Locust Grove unsolved mystery remains to be seen. With the bad karma, however, we fear his too may remain unsolved.

Get Help

Affected by an outbreak or recall?

The team at Marler Clark is here to answer all your questions. Find out if you’re eligible for a lawsuit, what questions to ask your doctor, and more.

Get a free consultation
Related Resources
E. coli Food Poisoning

What is E. coli and how does it cause food poisoning? Escherichia coli (E. coli) is a highly studied, common species of bacteria that belongs to the family Enterobacteriaceae, so...

E. coli O157:H7

E. coli O157:H7 is a foodborne pathogen that causes food poisoning. E. coli O157:H7 is the most commonly identified and the most notorious Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) serotype in...

Non-O157 STEC

Non-O157 Shiga Toxin-Producing E. coli can also cause food poisoning. E. coli O157:H7 may be the most notorious serotype of Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC), but there are at least...

Sources of E. coli

Where do E. coli O157:H7 and non-O157 Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) come from? The primary reservoirs, or ultimate sources, of E. coli O157:H7 and non-O157 STEC in nature are...

Transmission of and Infection with E. coli

While many dairy cattle-associated foodborne disease outbreaks are linked to raw milk and other raw dairy products (e.g., cheeses, butter, ice cream), dairy cattle still represent a source of contamination...

Outbreak Database

Looking for a comprehensive list of outbreaks?

The team at Marler Clark is here to answer all your questions. Find out if you’re eligible for a lawsuit, what questions to ask your doctor, and more.

View Outbreak Database