Public health officials in Santa Cruz County this week closed Capitola Beach — a popular stretch of sand lined with cheery pastel-colored homes and cozy waterfront cafes — amid an E. coli outbreak.
The E. coli O157 outbreak has sickened at least nine children, the Santa Cruz County Health Services Agency said in a statement. Four of the children live in Santa Cruz County, and five are from other Bay Area counties.
All cases are linked to likely exposures at Capitola Beach or surrounding waterways, where public health officials are investigating potential sources of the bacteria.
Capitola Beach is a manicured patch of sand at the mouth of Soquel Creek, and health officials this week tested water at four nearby locations in search of the bacteria, including an upstream spot near Nob Hill, the jetty, Soquel Creek Lagoon and the flume where water enters Monterey Bay.
The City of Capitola said in a water quality alert message Tuesday that the shop-lined Esplanade remained open but that visitors and their pets should avoid all contact with ocean, creek and lagoon water.
The beach closure in Santa Cruz County comes weeks after a deadly E. Coli outbreak in San Luis Obispo County, three hours south.
On Tuesday, health officials there confirmed that one person had died of an infection amid a cluster of cases linked to the popular Brookshire Farms.
More than a dozen people who visited the farm in late October reported symptoms, including three children reportedly put in pediatric intensive care.
An investigation by the San Luis Obispo County Public Health Department found five people with 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 to close during peak pumpkin season temporarily.
The city of San Luis Obispo canceled its annual Pumpkin Smash event scheduled for Nov. 1 over concerns about the bacteria. 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 the 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 that “based on the findings of our investigation, we believe the risk of additional exposure associated with this incident has passed, and there is no longer an ongoing public health threat.”
Mulkerin said testing of water, food and other environmental samples at the farm did not find E. coli 0157 and that while other bacteria were found, including other strains of E. coli, none were identified as the source of the outbreak.
“Although it’s frustrating to not be able to pinpoint the exact source of the infection through environmental lab testing, this is not unexpected, and bacterial contamination is often temporary and difficult to detect through available sampling methods,” Mulkerin said, adding that “while environmental sampling did not identify a source, clinical and epidemiological information continues to point to a short-lived shared exposure.”
Times staff writer Suhauna Hussain contributed to this report.
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