State Ends Probe on E. Coli

Due to the fact that there have been almost no new cases of E. coli related to the State Fair outbreak since Nov. 12, state health officials have ceased response-level operation of the Public Health Command Center.
There were at least 41 confirmed cases, including a 13-year-old Moore County girl, who attended the fair. There were 106 cases under investigation.
Katie Maness, an eighth-grader at The O’Neal School, was hospitalized at FirstHealth Moore Regional Hospital in Pinehurst and was later transferred to UNC Hospitals in Chapel Hill after developing complications that could have caused kidney failure.
She was released from the hospital on Nov. 6 and has since returned to school.
Although state health officials continue to investigate the exact site at the State Fair where the E. coli outbreak could have originated, the active surveillance for suspect cases of illness related to the outbreak has been discontinued.
The ongoing investigation determined that the source of the outbreak was last month’s State Fair in Raleigh.
The case definition was limited only to people who attended the State Fair between Oct. 15 and Oct. 24 and who had onset of diarrhea (three or more loose stools in a 24-hour period for two or more days) between Oct. 15 and Nov. 9 that was not attributable to another cause.