Public health officials in the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services point to animal contact as a likely source of an E. coli outbreak at the Cleveland County Fair.
As of Friday, October 19, 64 children and 42 adults are known to be/have been affected by this outbreak. Twelve individuals have been or are currently hospitalized, including one child who died from complications related to E. coli.
“While we are making progress in our investigation, we have not yet determined a specific cause,” State Health Director Laura Gerald said. “We may not be able to pinpoint a single source, but hope to have more conclusive results within a month. Our goal throughout this investigation is to identify how to prevent similar outbreaks and deaths in the future.”