A Chapel Hill restaurant has been linked to an outbreak of norovirus, according to WTVD.
Health officials say 41 people reported getting sick in recent weeks after eating 
at the Nantucket Grill or attending an event catered by the restaurant.
The first illnesses were reported May 7.
Nantucket Grill has locations in Durham and Chapel Hill.
Inspectors have checked out all locations, but haven’t been able to pinpoint the source of the virus.
“They can’t do this. E. coli and Hepatitis are a county fair tradition.”
So said one commenter in response to suggestions from a review panel that the Cleveland County Fair in North Carolina may not include a petting zoo when it returns this fall.
But a team that spent six months studying health safety at the fair does not recommend petting zoos be banned from the fairgrounds following a 2012 E. 
coli outbreak that sickened 100-plus event patrons and led to a toddler’s death.
Instead they recommended motion-sensor hand-wash equipment, an increase in signs denoting petting zoo entrances and exits and hand-wash stations, restricting the number of patrons in a fair animal exhibit at any one time, clearer separation between food vendors and petting zoos and more health and safety education for fair employees.
Handwashing is never enough, and these measures are a stopgap.
Several petting zoo outbreaks have had nothing to do with handwashing; pathogens can be present in the environment – which little kids have a unique ability to interact with that enviroinment like eating poop or kissing metal pens –
“This doesn’t eliminate petting zoos,” said Calvin Hastings, manager of the Cleveland County Fairgrounds. “I do foresee future petting zoos, just maybe not this year.”
State and local health officials said physical changes will help but it will take the community’s effort to ensure the fair is a safe event.
We have additional suggestions, but they’re under peer review at the moment.
A table of petting zoo outbreaks is available at http://bites.ksu.edu/petting-zoos-outbreaks.
A list of risk factors at petting zoos and animal contact events at fairs can be 
found in:
Erdozain G, Kukanich K, Chapman B, Powell D. 2012. Observation of public health risk behaviours, risk communication and hand hygiene at Kansas and Missouri petting zoos – 2010-2011. Zoonoses Public Health. 2012 Jul 30. doi: 10.1111/j.1863-2378.2012.01531.x. [Epub ahead of print]
A salmonella outbreak stemming from a Fayetteville hotel has now reached 70 possible cases, 12 of which are out of state.
The Cumberland County Department of Public Health says 70 people have reported signs or symptoms consistent with salmonella infections. Five people 
have been hospitalized.
WNCN reports all seem to have eaten at the All American Sports Bar and Grill and The Café Bordeaux within the Holiday Inn Fayetteville – Bordeaux on Owen Drive.
The hotel’s General Manager Scooter Deal said the first 14 reported cases were all staff members at the hotel, including himself.
Deal said the health department investigators have asked questions of the restaurant kitchen staff and reviewed how they handled food. They are also checking what foods were shipped to the hotel.
The Cumberland County Department of Public Health is investigating a possible salmonella outbreak at the Holiday Inn Bordeaux in North Carolina.
WNCN reported Wednesday the health department updated the number of people identified with symptoms consistent with salmonella. 18 people had 
been identified with symptoms – two more than the previous day. Now four people are hospitalized with symptoms the department said.
Health officials say all of the individuals ate at the Holiday Inn Bordeaux, which has two restaurants, the All American Sports Bar and Grill and The Café Bordeaux. The hotel also has a banquet kitchen.
Based on its investigation, the health department is now asking that individuals who consumed food or beverages at the Holiday Inn Bordeaux since May 1 and have developed symptoms within three days of that visit to call the department at 910-433-3638.
Multiple families have filed new lawsuits against the county and state fair organizations, claiming their children experienced E. coli symptoms after visiting events at fairgrounds.
And lawyers for other families say there are plans for additional lawsuits 
related to E. coli outbreaks.
Two separate E. coli outbreaks affected local residents in the past two years, according to state health officials. Alicia Banks of the Shelby Star reports the first occurred following the 2011 NC State Fair in Raleigh. The second occurred following the 2012 Cleveland County Fair, in which more than 100 people experienced E. coli-related symptoms and a 2-year-old Gaston County boy died. State health officials linked both outbreaks to petting zoos.
The Tallent family, of Shelby, is seeking $500,000 in damages from the NC State Fair for Hunter Tallent, who still receives medical treatment after a 2011 E. coli outbreak linked to the NC State Fair.
Two families filed lawsuits against the Cleveland County Fairgrounds Inc. seeking more than $20,000 in damages combined for their children.
Grady and Elizabeth McNair filed a civil complaint against the fairgrounds on behalf of their child, Jordan McNair. According to the civil complaint, Jordan went to the petting zoo at the Cleveland County Fair on Sept. 27, 2012, and he became ill afterward. The illness caused Jordan “serious physical pain and suffering … disfigurement, and permanent injury,” according to the suit filed in Gaston County.
Aime Westfall, of Maiden, took her son Dominic to the Cleveland County Fair on Sept. 29, 2012. He later developed gastrointestinal symptoms, including a fever and bloody diarrhea, according to the filing in Cleveland County.
Both civil filings noted the families incurred medical bills in the treatment of Jordan and Dominic.
In the suits, the families claim several faults by the county and state fairgrounds.
According to court documents obtained from the Cleveland and Gaston county courthouses, the families claim the county and state fairgrounds
created environments susceptible to widespread E. coli contamination and both failed to give adequate warnings to fair patrons and didn’t thoroughly inspect the premises to determine the likelihood of E. coli exposure.
The county fairgrounds claims it supplied a warning to patrons during the fair, stating it could not be liable for any injury or death related to agritourism activities under state law, according to court documents.
Two other families filed lawsuits in Gaston County against the Cleveland County Fairgrounds in November. Both are seeking damages of more than $10,000 for 5-year-old Hannah Roberts and nearly 2-year-old Isaac Dover, who both suffered health complications related to E. coli, according to court documents.
A table of petting zoo outbreaks is available at http://bites.ksu.edu/petting-zoos-outbreaks.
Brangelina may or may not have a petting zoo for their kids in France, but a Shelby family is suing North Carolina for up to $500,000 after their three-year-old son contracted an E. coli infection at the state fair in 2011.
A lawsuit that was filed said medical bills for Hunter Tallent, who was 2 
years old at the time he got sick, totaled nearly $90,000.
Their attorney said they believe that the Department of Agriculture did not do enough to warn and protect people.
“We believe they just didn’t have enough signage, stations, soap and water, hand sanitizer, and they could have done a lot more,” said attorney Sean Cobourn.
In Toronto, a family thought it would a good idea to host a birthday party for their three-year old son and a dozen friends featuring a baby kangaroo, an owl and a tarantula.
According to the National Post, just seconds after their toddler held the furry arachnid, he began to blink, rub his eye, then cry, for hours, and in the days after.
Alison Litzinger and her husband, Matt, later learned the Rose Hair tarantula, brought by the exotic animal handler they hired, shot tiny barbed 
hairs into their son’s eye — a little-known defence mechanism other than the poisonous bite most people fear.
“It was pretty traumatic for our son,” said Mrs. Litzinger. “We tried to wash his eyes out, and he just started screaming at the top of his lungs.”
These microscopic fibres, called urticating hairs, cause stinging and itching when in contact with the skin. When in a person’s eye, however, the tiny barbs of the hair hook in, slowly sinking deeper into the eyeball and potentially causing damage to vision, making it very difficult, if not impossible, to remove, said Dr. Kamiar Mireskandari, an ophthalmologist at Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children.
A table of petting zoo outbreaks is available at http://bites.ksu.edu/petting-zoos-outbreaks.
The family of Hannah Roberts, who was hospitalized after an E.coli outbreak at the Cleveland County Fair celebrated her recovery on Saturday.
WCNC reports that Hannah, 5, was the guest of honor at the party held at The 
Union Road Church of God.
“It’s to thank everybody for their love, support and prayers and to celebrate Hannah’s recovery,” said Hannah’s mother, Tracy Roberts.
Hannah was hospitalized for 16-days in October. Last week, she was finally able to go back to school. She’s one of more than 100 people who got sick in the outbreak.
One of the victims, 2-year-old Gage Lefevers, died from the infection.
In the fall of 2009, an E. coli O157:H7 outbreak at Godstone Petting Farm in the U.K resulted in 93 illnesses – primarily little kids.
An initial report by Professor George Griffin found that it could have been avoided if visitors had been kept away from animal feces, and was made worse by the slow reaction of health authorities before the petting farm in Surrey was closed.
Eight of the children infected required dialysis and some have been left with permanent kidney damage. At one point during the outbreak victims were occupying 
all the children’s acute renal support services in London.
As part of the response, U.K. health types recommended handwashing stations with soap and water only (no wipes or sanitizers).
But while some studies suggest inadequate handwashing facilities may have contributed to disease outbreaks, or washing hands was protective against illness, others suggest bugs like E. coli O157 may be aerosolized and inhaled, thus not prevented with handwashing.
In the 2009 outbreak, a bunch of U.K. researchers concluded that in the Godstone outbreak, “handwashing conferred no demonstrable protective effect.
“Moreover, from the findings of many previous published studies, it must be assumed that all petting or open farms are potentially high-risk environments for the acquisition of VTEC O157 infection.”
So Beth McNair, the mother of a 12-year-old who was hospitalized from complications of E. coli contracted at the Cleveland County Fair, sorta has a point when she says more needs to be done to prevent outbreaks.
“Well, it’s been very difficult. I mean just, one day you’re going along with your daily lives, then all of the sudden you run into this brick wall, and it stops your life.”
Jordan McNair was released from Levine Children’s Hospital last week, after being in the hospital for almost a month.
WSOCTV.com reports that the Zootastic Park in Troutman is getting ready for its annual light show and petting zoo starting Friday.
“E. coli always worries me,” said owner Scottie Brown. “What’s most important is for people to know that you got to wash your hands. It’s not about the animals, it’s about people too.”
Brown said his zoo has handwashing stations all around the facility.
Brown sorta misses the point: handwashing is never enough.
A table of petting zoo outbreaks is available at http://bites.ksu.edu/petting-zoos-outbreaks
.
State and county health officials have concluded the petting zoo at the Cleveland Co. Fair is the cause of E. coli outbreak across the North Carolina region in late September.
WBTV reports that “N.C. Department of Health and Human Services have determined that the petting zoo at the Cleveland County Fair was the initial source of 
exposure to E. coli,” the statement released on Friday said.
More than 100 people were infected from the bacteria and a 2-year-old died as a result of the infection that spread into neighboring counties in the early weeks of October.
According to test results, weather may be one of the factors that played a role in widespread contamination of the area surrounding the petting zoo exhibit.
Two specific strains of E. coli on cases from the outbreak were matched to environmental samples taken from fair grounds. Heavy rains during the run of the fair, from 9/29 to 10/8 resulted in runoff that may have spread contamination from petting zoo into nearby areas.
So why didn’t anyone predict the potential problem when the rain was coming down?
No child, or family, should have to go through this grief and anguish because they took the kids to a petting zoo at the local fair.
Being repeatedly told they failed because they didn’t wash their hands is 
condescending. And ignores the science.
Handwashing is never enough.
The Charlotte Observer reports Jordan McNair, a 12-year-old Bessemer City boy who contracted E. coli while at the Cleveland County fair last month was released from the hospital on Thursday, after spending 35 days at Levine Children’s Hospital.
Five-year-old Hannah Roberts left Levine Children’s Hospital in style over two weeks ago, but Thursday, her parents told WBTV their daughter is suffering from side effects from the E. coli O157 infection.
A table of petting zoo outbreaks is available at http://bites.ksu.edu/petting-zoos-outbreaks, and a list of risk factors at petting zoos and animal contact events at fairs can be found in: Erdozain G, Kukanich K, Chapman B, Powell D. 2012. Observation of public health risk behaviours, risk communication and hand hygiene at Kansas and Missouri petting zoos – 2010-2011. Zoonoses Public Health. 2012 Jul 30. doi: 10.1111/j.1863-2378.2012.01531.x. [Epub ahead of print]