One person has died in an E. coli outbreak that spread at a pumpkin farm in San Luis Obispo County last month, health officials confirmed Tuesday.
The outbreak of Shiga toxin-producing E. coli left more than a dozen people who visited the popular Brookshire Farms in late October with symptoms, including three children reportedly put in pediatric intensive care.
An investigation by the San Luis Obispo County Public Health Department found five peoplewith laboratory-confirmed infections. Testing of food, water and other samples at the farm did not find the specific strain found in those cases, and the exact source of the bacteria has yet to be determined, health officials say.
“We can confirm that one individual associated with the E. coli outbreak has died. We are sharing this information with the permission of the individual’s family,” health department spokesperson Tom Cuddy said in an emailed statement. “This is truly a heartbreaking development, and our thoughts are with the family and everyone affected by this outbreak.”
The outbreak prompted Brookshire Farms’ temporary closure during peak pumpkin season.
“I’m destroyed,” Brookshire Farms co-owner Shawn Callaway told the San Luis Obispo Tribune on Friday, the day the farm reopened after its 10 day voluntary closure.
“The worries, the fears, the concerns, the ups and downs. I mean, how do you explain it? I don’t know,” he said to the news outlet, describing the experience since the outbreak.
The city of San Luis Obispo had canceled its annual Pumpkin Smash eventscheduled for Nov. 1 over concerns about the outbreak. The post-Halloween activity aimed to give residents a way to dispose of pumpkins while also educating about how to properly divert organic materials from landfills.
Health officials last week said that risk of additional exposures to the E. coli strain in this incident had passed. San Luis Obispo County Health Officer Dr. Christy Mulkerin said in a news release there was “no ongoing public health threat.”
Shiga toxin-producing E. coli infections have surged in California in recent years, rising from around 500 cases in 2011 to more than 2,500 in 2023, according to the California Department of Public Health.
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