TENNESSEE: Doctor confirms two children, sick with E. coli, shared burger
12.oct.07
WBIR
Yvette Martinez, Reporter
A pediatrician has now confirmed two sick children shared hamburger meat from a local grocery store shortly before becoming sick with E. Coli.
Dr. Joe Childs of East Tennessee Children’s Hospital confirmed four- year-old John and 18-month old Michaela McDonald shared a hamburger September 29th.
“I know that they ingested hamburger, at the same time,” Childs said.
“That was frozen hamburger patties from a local food market.”
Both children have since become seriously ill. John has undergone blood transfusions and is enduring surgery Friday, as he is struggling through kidney failure.
Both children were moved to UT Medical Center Friday afternoon so John could have dialysis. Michaela was moved to keep the children in the same hospital. Their father, Jim McDonald tells 10 News that John’s condition is worsening.
However, Dr. Childs says the children are expected to recover fully.
Now health officials are investigating the source of the illness in hopes of preventing any more children from becoming sick.
There have been at least four cases of children becoming sick with E. coli over the past 10 days in East Tennessee. However, Health Officials say they don’t have a link between the cases.
Knox County Health Department Spokesperson Ranee Randby says epidemiologists, food inspectors, and a doctor are gathering information. Some are even visiting area grocery stores.
“There was a recall of certain meats, hamburger meat earlier this month, and we’re just doing this as a precaution to make sure those were in fact pulled from the shelf,” Randby said.
Randby says they can not confirm if these cases are linked to the recalled ground beef.
Currently, the United States Department of Agriculture’s recalls page shows two beef recalls (Cargill Meat Solutions recall, Topps Beef Recall) over the past few weeks, but the health department is unable to confirm a link of these illnesses to those ground beef recalls.
Randby says they are interviewing family and sending samples to the state for testing and comparison. Meanwhile, people should use caution in preparing their food and make sure ground beef is completely browned before eating.
Knox County Health Officials say they could find out if there is a link between the four E. coli cases as early as this weekend.