SLO County confirms first death in E. coli outbreak

San Luis Obispo County Public Health officials confirmed Tuesday that one person associated with the Shiga toxin-producing E. coli outbreak has died, KSBY News and the San Luis Obispo Tribune reported. The department said it was sharing the information with the family’s permission but did not give the patient’s age or other details.

The outbreak began to be reported in late October, and there are five confirmed infections, KSBY News said. Three of the confirmed patients were children who required intensive care after developing hemolytic uremic syndrome, according to the Tribune. The California Post reported that the five confirmed cases were people who visited Brookshire Farms on October 17 or 18, while ten additional people who visited between October 16 and 26 developed matching symptoms. The Tribune said there were eight additional unconfirmed cases.

Brookshire Farms in San Luis Obispo shut down for a time after health officials found that the people who got sick had all been to the farm in the same period, KSBY News reported. After testing samples of water, food and other items, officials did not find the specific strain of E. coli behind the illnesses, and no exact source was identified. The Tribune said environmental testing was unable to confirm presence of O157 at the farm. California Post reported that health officials found other strains of E. coli in some samples but not the O157 outbreak strain.

In a statement on Nov. 6, County Health Officer Dr. Christy Mulkerin explained that contamination by bacteria is frequently temporary and hard to find with the sampling methods available. The health department listed shared potential exposures among those infected: edible corn cups, pumpkins, hay, and water that was not potable.

By Nov. 6, officials stated that the continuing risk to public health had ended, and Brookshire Farms opened again that day, KSBY News reported. The exact source remains unidentified, so the fatal case cannot be tied to any specific product or exposure at the farm. Environmental testing did not isolate the O157 strain there.