Gert van der Hoek
In Memoriam - Editor, Senior Moderator
Arizona death may be linked to European E. coli
Jun. 24, 2011
A northern Arizona man who died in mid-June may be the first person in the United States whose death resulted from an outbreak of food-borne illness in Germany.
The Arizona Department of Health Services would not reveal the man's name but said he is older than 65 and had traveled recently to Germany.
Arizona epidemiologist Catherine Foley said Thursday that the hospital where the man was being treated after returning home notified the ADHS before his death that he had hemolytic uremic syndrome.
- snip -
Foley's department sent laboratory samples to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, where testing will confirm whether the Arizona man was infected with the strain. A CDC official said it's uncertain when testing will be completed.
Through Wednesday, the CDC had identified five confirmed cases and one suspected case of STEC infections in the United States - in Massachusetts, Michigan, Wisconsin and North Carolina - but no confirmed deaths.
azcentral
Jun. 24, 2011
A northern Arizona man who died in mid-June may be the first person in the United States whose death resulted from an outbreak of food-borne illness in Germany.
The Arizona Department of Health Services would not reveal the man's name but said he is older than 65 and had traveled recently to Germany.
Arizona epidemiologist Catherine Foley said Thursday that the hospital where the man was being treated after returning home notified the ADHS before his death that he had hemolytic uremic syndrome.
- snip -
Foley's department sent laboratory samples to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, where testing will confirm whether the Arizona man was infected with the strain. A CDC official said it's uncertain when testing will be completed.
Through Wednesday, the CDC had identified five confirmed cases and one suspected case of STEC infections in the United States - in Massachusetts, Michigan, Wisconsin and North Carolina - but no confirmed deaths.
azcentral