20 sick, 2 serious, with E. coli O157:H7 after church potluck

WKRG News is reporting that at least 20 of the 300 people who attended the annual "Beast Feast and Wild Game Supper" at the Eastern Shore First Baptist Church in Alabama last weekend got sick and eight of those 20 people were infected with E. coli O157:H7.

Teresa Porter with the Baldwin County Health Department, said,

"Three of the people infected are still in the hospital. And there’s an two-to-ten day incubation period for this organism so we’ve got a couple more days to go."

Two brothers reportedly 10- and 8-years-old sickened in the outbreak remain in fair and good condition today after being transferred from Mobile to Birmingham.

Associate Pastor Ken Wilson at the Eastern Shore Baptist Church said,

"It’s affected all of us as a church family. We’re doing whatever we can to help the families affected and we’re cooperating with the health department."

A table of church-community-potluck style outbreaks is available at http://www.foodsafety.ksu.edu/en/article-details.php?a=2&c=5&sc=25&id=881.

We say, anyone serving food, especially in a public setting, should have some minimal food safety training.

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About Douglas Powell

A former professor of food safety and the publisher of barfblog.com, Powell is passionate about food, has five daughters, and is an OK goaltender in pickup hockey. Download Doug’s CV here. Dr. Douglas Powell editor, barfblog.com retired professor, food safety 3/289 Annerley Rd Annerley, Queensland 4103 dpowell29@gmail.com 61478222221 I am based in Brisbane, Australia, 15 hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time