Berry Stand Strawberries | The International Outbreak Museum

Outbreak: Berry Stand Strawberries
Product: Strawberries	Investigation Start Date: 08/03/2011
Location: Clackamas, Multnomah, Washington, Clatsop, & Yamhill Counties, Oregon	Etiology: E. coli (STEC) O157:H7
Earliest known case onset date: 07/01/2011	Latest case onset date: 07/29/2011
Confirmed / Presumptive Case Counts: 14 / 1	Positive Samples (Food / Environmental): 4 / 100
Hospitalizations: 6	Deaths: 2

Traceback: Dr. Tourdjman and team visit a local berry stand.
"Farm A": the initial visit to the strawberry farm suspected as the outbreak source.
Specimen collection: deer feces are observed over wide areas of the strawberry fields. Specimen collection begins.
Deer feces among strawberry plants was common at "farm A".
Deer are observed grazing the strawberry fields.
From farm to fork: Oregon deer have no discretion about where they defecate.
Dr. Keene gets into the weeds.
Some of the crew after a day of collecting feces.
Samples seized from cases.
Preparing to ship a few hundred fecal specimens to the lab.
Months after the outbreak, a household near the implicated farm tested positive for the same O157 strain. The case had not consumed strawberries from farm A, but deer were abundant in the yard of the case. The contents of the household vacuum bag produced the same O157 strain as the outbreak.
Though mounted in the museum, we did not harvest the deer as a result of the investigation: it came from a resale shop in Portland.
The actual museum artifact from the outbreak: a box of strawberries obtained from one of the stands.
Epi curve.

OUTBREAK SUMMARY:

This investigation implicated a novel vehicle—strawberries—as the cause of an outbreak of E. coli O157 infections. An association with locally produced strawberries quickly became apparent as cases were interviewed; but the fact that almost all had purchased them at roadside stands and farmer’s markets led to concern about potential … Continue Reading ››