KXXV confirms that 11 people have become sick after eating at Jason’s Deli in Killeen, Texas. Doctors confirmed five of them had a strain of the bacteria escherichia coli (O157:H7) that has been known to result in hemolytic-uremic syndrome (HUS), a potentially fatal complication that can lead to kidney failure. Two were hospitalized, and Bell County health officials announced that the case was closed this week. The most likely source was identified as a batch of guacamole made on April 13th, used as spread for the “California Club” sandwich.
According to Mac McLean, an E. coli outbreak involving E. coli O157:H7, E. coli O103 and E. coli O169 and outbreak that’s plagued Northeast Tennessee since mid-May has sickened two more people – bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the eight-county Northeast Tennessee region so far this year to 15. On June 5, a 2-year-old girl and her 5-year-old brother from Dryden, Va., were rushed to the Johnson City Medical Center’s Pediatric Intensive Care Unit after they developed an E. coli infection. The girl died at the hospital that day while her brother was sent to another hospital for further treatment and later released.
The Tulsa City-County Health Department said three children have been sickened by E. coli bacteria. Agency spokeswoman Melanie Christian said the department’s lab confirmed the cases in the children, who are under 10 years old. Christian said two of the children were hospitalized but one has gone home. She says two of the children are siblings. Agency officials are still investigating how and where the children contracted the illness. Christian said two of the children go to daycare at the Boston Avenue United Methodist Church in Tulsa, but that’s the only common point of contact.