EpidemicsSource of St. Louis E.coli outbreak still uncertain
Public health officials in Missouri are scrambling to locate the source of an E.coli outbreak that has infected twenty-six people in one week; health authorities believe that Schnucks, a chain of salad bars, may be the culprit, but so far tests for the bacteria have all come back negative
Color photomicrograph of E. coli bacteria // Source: scavengergourmet.com
Public health officials in Missouri are scrambling to locate the source of an E.coli outbreak that has infected twenty-six people in one week.
Health authorities believe that Schnucks, a chain of salad bars, may be the culprit, but so far tests for the bacteria have all come back negative.
According to John Shelton, a spokesman for the Missouri Department of Health & Senior Services, an “overwhelming majority” of individuals became sick after eating items from various Schnucks.
“One of the focuses that we are looking into at this time is salad bars in Schnucks stores,” Shelton said. “Many of those we have interviewed said they have purchased and eaten items from Schnucks salad bars. We have not narrowed it down to a single item on a salad bar.”
“While there is a correlation between Schnucks and this outbreak, the health department has not yet determined what that is. They are following a number of leads at this time,” said Lori Willis, a spokesperson for Schnucks. “No source has been pinpointed and none of the tests have come back positive for E. coli.”
In a press release, the company was careful to note that it had not been identified as the source of the outbreak in the ongoing investigation. As a precaution, Willis said the company had voluntarily replaced all of its lettuce at salad bars across the region last week.
Shelton said Schnucks remains a part of the ongoing investigation, despite the preliminary results that came back negative.
“We’re not saying that we have every case in hand or that we’ve collected every sample,” Shelton said.
The majority of the infections have occurred in St. Louis County, and seventeen of the twenty-six infected reported that they ate from a Schnucks salad bar.
“Although a portion of the investigation has been looking at Schnucks salad bars (and salad bars in general) to see if there is any connection to the outbreak, no such link has been established,” the St. Louis County health Department said in a release. “Other aspects of the investigation continue to examine other possibilities since 35 percent of those affected did not report having eaten anything from a Schnucks salad bar.”
Last Friday, investigators from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) were deployed to assist local health authorities.
