Everyone’s got a camera: Wendy’s in Oklahoma edition

Tristen Land of 6 On the Scene reports a video shared on social media shows a mouse inside a bag of hamburger buns at a Wendy’s restaurant in Catoosa and now corporate is investigating.

Employees say they not only found the mice disturbing but also the cigarettes left on the counters at their sandwich stations. Now they believe something needs to be done.

Especially if the mice were smoking.

“I go in and I see it’s moving around in the bag and you can see like rat feces and all that and it was just disgusting,” said Skylar Frame.

Skylar was at work yesterday when she says she saw mice racing through the buns. She says her coworkers reported it to a manager but were told to continue serving customers.

“I was like what am I supposed to do with the buns and she’s like take the stack, take it down and go use some other buns,” Said fellow employee Samantha Nibbelink.

“There was no stopping, so we had to keep going.” Said employee Vincent Vang.

Today the restaurant was open to customers. Wendy’s sent us this statement, saying in part,

“We immediately launched an investigation with our pest control vendor and internal quality assurance experts to ensure immediate and appropriate action is taken. We have stringent procedures in place to ensure a safe and well-maintained restaurant.”

Uh-huh.

Bloody diarrhea is usually the clue: 5 sick in E. coli outbreak linked to Oklahoma daycare

The State Health Department confirms they are investigating several cases in children in the Moore area. The department says this is not related to the nationwide romaine lettuce E. coli outbreak but instead, the virus (it’s a bacterium) can be traced back to a Moore day care.

Neveah Bell is usually a very a happy and active baby. So earlier this month, it was obvious that something was very wrong. 

“She wouldn’t even lift up her head, she was not eating anything. She wouldn’t play with her toys. She just wanted to be held,” said Melissa Bell, Neveah’s grandmother and guardian.

The day before, Neveah came home sick from day care.

“She had some diarrhea that was pretty violent and had blood,” said Bell.

Neveah was admitted to the hospital.

Doctors eventually confirmed she had E. coli.

The State Health Department says they have identified five cases of E. coli that can be traced back to a Moore day care. But say that’s not all that unusual.

“Clusters of cases happen in group settings, especially in child care facilities that are interacting on a daily basis,” explained Laurence Burnsed and Epidemiologist with the Oklahoma Department of Health.

E. coli can be transmitted directly or through contamination of objects that children share. The Health Department says they are working with the day care to stop further spread. Symptoms include diarrhea, bloody stools and cramps and like in Neveah’s case, it can be very serious.

“This is a bacteria that if it gets into your blood stream or effects other organs, it can cause other complications. Some occurrences can result in death,” explained Burnsed.

After two weeks in the hospital, Neveah has fully recovered.  But her grandmother says it was a very scary time.

12-year-old Oklahoma girl lives with constant reminder of E. coli outbreak nine years ago

In Aug. 2008, 26-year-old Chad Ingle had a meal at the Country Cottage in Locust Grove, Oklahoma, a popular family-owned buffet-style restaurant.

Nine days later, Chad was dead from E. coli O111.

By the end of the outbreak, 341 people had been sickened with E. coli O111, all from eating at the country diner in a town of 1,423 people.

A paper describing the investigation was published in 2011 in Epidemiology and Infection and concluded from epidemiological evidence the outbreak resulted from cross-contamination of restaurant food from food preparation equipment or surfaces, or from an unidentified infected food handler.

Ethan Hutchins of ABC News writes that at first glance Machaela Ybarra is a typical 12-year-old going through the struggles any pre-teen faces. But like the words on the pages of her textbooks, Machaela has a story to tell, a story she only wishes was fiction.

“Whenever I understood what happened to me, I couldn’t believe it,” said Ybarra.

Machaela was just 2 when she contracted E. coli. It happened at Country Cottage restaurant in Locust Grove.

A Sunday afternoon lunch nine years ago changed Machaela’s life forever.

“It sounds scary even though I don’t remember much,” said Ybarra.

Her mother will never forget that day. Christina Ybarra still knows what her daughter ate: Fried chicken, meatloaf, green beans, mashed potatoes and gravy.

“It was a buffet so we went and got one plate, her and I both ate off of it and I didn’t get sick at all,” said Christina Ybarra.

It’s a miracle, she says, since Christina was seven months pregnant at the time with Machaela’s little sister.

Of the hundreds who got sick from E. coli, one person died. The restaurant closed, but was back in business two months later, and now years later Country Cottage remains open. Folks here in town say they still eat here, not blaming the restaurant for those dark days years ago.

No one in Locust Grove at the restaurant or even with the city likes to talk about the outbreak. It’s fair to say, it’s a bad time most people there would like to forget.

But for Machaela, there are daily reminders.

“I’m on seizure medication because I can just stare sometimes and just be unconscious,” said Ybarra.

 

2-year-old on life support in Texas after contracting E. coli

An Ennis family says the CDC is investigating after their 2-year-old was exposed to a dangerous strain of E.coli.

Landon Huston is now on life support at Children’s Medical Center Dallas.

“He’s usually up, rambunctious, running around,” said his mother, Lindsey Montgomery. “I’m ready for my little boy to be back.”

The family took a trip to Oklahoma two weeks ago, cooling down in a hotel pool and at a natural spring.

“I’d never heard of people swimming and get E. oli,” said his father, John Huston.

Unfortunately, many, many people have been identified as getting sick with Shiga-toxin producing E. coli from swimming, water parks, or water supplies.

“Three, four days later, Landon’s got fever, diarrhea, really sick,” said Montgomery.

But by the time a test confirmed E.coli, his kidneys were shutting down. Montgomery said the CDC interviewed her trying to determine the source of the infection.

“They asked me where he had been, what food he had ate, any restaurants,” she said.

Dr. Jeffrey Kahn, Children’s Health Chief of Pediatric Infections Diseases, said it’s normal for a case like this to trigger a public health investigation.

“That suggests that there’s some contamination somewhere. It’s usually water or food and typically that means it’s not just one individual who’s been exposed,” he said.

Oklahoma student saved by blood donors twice

Eric Swanson of The ADA News reports that without the help of blood donors, Tierney Roberts might not be alive today.

donate-blood-2.jpg~c200Donated blood helped Roberts for the first time in 2010, when she was injured in a two-vehicle wreck on state Highway 19. She suffered serious but not life-threatening head and facial injuries and was airlifted to OU Medical Center in Oklahoma City for treatment.

In December 2014, Roberts, an East Central University student, developed an E. coli infection that turned into hemolytic uremic syndrome. Blood donations helped her recover from the disease.

Those two experiences reminded Roberts that blood donors can save lives, she said Wednesday.

“For those people who are scared of needles, it is really not that bad,” she said. “When you think about it, it doesn’t hurt hardly at all. It’s a small needle, and it takes, seriously, like 10 minutes. It’s definitely worth it.”

Three Ada-based employers — the Chickasaw Nation, Mercy Hospital Ada and People’s Electric Cooperative — are teaming up with the Oklahoma Blood Institute for a blood drive in Ada.

The seventh annual Ada All-American Blood Drive will take place from 9 a.m. until 6 p.m. today at the Pontotoc County Agri-Plex Convention Center, 1710 N. Broadway. Healthy people ages 16 and older who meet certain requirements are encouraged to participate.

For more information or to make an appointment, call 1-877-340-8777 or visit www.obi.org.

Benefit dinner to help Oklahoma family of child recovering from E. coli

Laura Harris said the community support she has felt since her son became ill has been overwhelming.

Jase Harris“It brings you to tears to see how generous they are,” Harris said. “It makes you appreciate coming from a small town.”

Two-year-old Jase Harris recently spent 10 days in Saint Francis Children’s Hospital in Tulsa where he was diagnosed with hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS). Eight of those days Jase spent in the intensive care unit.

A benefit dinner for Jase and his family will take place from 5 to 8 p.m. today at the Wagoner Show Barn, across from Maple Park.

Those who would like attend are asked to contribute a financial donation of any amount. Beans or spaghetti will be served along with a drink and dessert.

Community rallies behind Oklahoma boy battling E. coli infection

Residents in a small town in northwest Oklahoma are rallying behind a young boy, who is fighting for his life after being infected with E. coli.

State health officials in Oklahoma are investigating a spike in a deadly strain of E. coli. Eight-year-old Connor Sneary of Alva, Oklahoma, is one of oklahoma.e.coliat least a dozen people who became hospitalized.

Connor has been in the intensive care unit at OU Children’s Hospital where he remains in critical condition. As part of the treatment, he is undergoing dialysis and blood transfusions.

Connor has a form of E. coli that the family believes may have been contracted at an agricultural event at the Oklahoma State Fair Grounds. Investigators say that is a possibility.

Several organizations are hosting events benefiting Connor’s family. The Oklahoma Blood Institute will have a special blood drive in Alva on Tuesday, April 8, from noon to 6 p.m., at the First Christian Church. All donations will be credited to Connor for his use.

12 possibly sick with E. coli at Oklahoma State Fairgrounds; all worked with livestock

The State Health Department said that they are working on 12 cases of possible E. coli cases.

They said 8 of them were at the Youth Expo, but some of the other 4 may not have been there.

petting.zoo.10They are now backtracking and trying to figure out what these cases all had in common.

There were some pre-screening events held before the Youth Expo that are also being investigated.

The one thing the Health Department said all the cases have in common is that the people worked with livestock.

Seven inmates in Oklahoma state prisons have been hospitalized in the past three weeks with symptoms of salmonellosis.

Fourty-seven women at Eddie Warrior Correctional Center had symptoms of salmonellosis.

Of those who showed symptoms at the women’s prison in Taft, 18 had oklahoma.prisontested positive for salmonella by Thursday afternoon.

Another 37 inmates had salmonellosis symptoms at Jim E. Hamilton Correctional Center in Hodgen, Massie said. Five were hospitalized.

Lauri Smithee, director of the state Health Department’s acute disease service, told The Oklahoman the recent cases don’t rise to the level of an outbreak.

What? Prisoners are people too.

Oklahoma girl continues recovery from E. coli poisoning

An 8-year-old Green Country girl continues to recover from E. coli poisoning.

Cady Daugherty was hospitalized last month. Since then, she was placed on a ventilator and dialysis. She also spent several weeks in the intensive care unit.

Now, Daugherty is out of the ICU and returning to her old form. “This is crazy good,” said her mother, Karla Crum. “This is the best thing in the world.”

2NEWS contacted the Oklahoma Department of Health to inquire about an investigation into how Daugherty contracted the poisoning. A spokeswoman would not confirm an ongoing investigation and she also said she could not comment, if one was underway.