Bittersweet News in NC Fair E. coli Outbreak

Officials: Petting zoo to blame By James Andrews | November 10, 2012 More than a month has passed since the first of the 106 victims in North Carolina's Cleveland County Fair E. coli outbreak began showing symptoms of infection. This week brought bittersweet news regarding two of those victims. First, the good: After 35 days in care, 12-year-old Jordan McNair was discharged from Levine Children's Hospital in Charlotte on Thursday. But Thursday was also the day 5-year-old Hannah Robertson was readmitted to Levine two weeks since being discharged. Her parents told WBTV that she had been suffering side-effects of her infection. On Friday, North Carolina health officials declared the fair's petting zoo exhibit the cause of the outbreak. Runoff from heavy rains during the fair may have helped spread the contamination to other parts of the fair, they added. The fair ended Oct. 7. In the week that followed, 2-year-old Gage Lefevers of Gastonia died from his E. coli infection. Among his many activities at the fair on Sept. 30, McNair — the boy discharged on Thursday — milked a cow at the petting zoo. But when he was finished, the hand-washing station only contained a small bit of soap, his mom told the Associated Press. Five days later, he was hospitalized. He's now still taking three medications and requires weekly lab tests, but he's on schedule to return to his middle school in Cherryville next week. And in a bit of hopeful news for Robertson, the girl readmitted to the hospital on Thursday, doctors told her parents they don't think her latest symptoms are anything serious. © Food Safety News More Headlines from Foodborne Illness Outbreaks » Tags: Cleveland County, E. coli, E. coli O157:H7, pets and petting zoos, victims