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Officials Continue Tests After E. Coli Kills Child

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Sep 23, 2008 9:17 pm US/Mountain

Officials Continue Tests After E. Coli Kills Child

Reporting
Mike Hooker
AURORA, Colo. (CBS4) ― Health officials continued testing children Tuesday after E. coli took the life of a 3-year-old boy.

The source of the contamination is unknown, but Tri-County Health is focusing on the child's daycare in Arapahoe County.

Health officials want to make sure the other kids at that daycare are not in danger. They still are not releasing the name of the boy who died or telling the location of the in-home private day care he attended.

The other young children at that daycare in Aurora are now the focus of the health investigation.

"There are 21 children off and on who attended the daycare over the course of the last month and a half," said Dr. Richard Vogt, Director of the Tri-County Health Department.

Vogt said Tri-County Health is testing the 21 children even though none have become terribly ill.

"We have had a few instances of mild gastrointestinal illness, a handful and what were trying to do today is find out of any of those could be E. coli cases," Vogt said.

Vogt said it's confirmed that the deadly E. coli in this case is the strain 0157:H7, the same strain that's sickened people in various outbreaks.

The bacteria is commonly found in ground beef that hasn't been cooked thoroughly. Another culprit is vegetables that are unwashed or have been washed in dirty water. Health officials say in a daycare, poor hand-washing can spread E. coli if the person changing diapers is also preparing food. Now, testing all the children is part of solving the deadly mystery at the Aurora daycare.

"You can find out how many individuals may be infected and with that you can make some determinations of weather we're dealing with a person-to-person transmission or perhaps a source outside of the daycare," Vogt said. "So it can help clarify that."

In the meantime, the daycare is closed for business.

"What we've asked the owner operator to do is to just refrain from conducting daycare for the time being," Vogt said.

CBS4 has learned that the daycare was operating without a license. Officials from Tri-County Health and the Department of Human Services planned to meet at the daycare to determine if it should be licensed so it can continue operating, or if it should be shut down.

Health officials say while the strain of E. coli in this case can be deadly, for most people its worst effect is a mildly upset stomach.

Thoroughly cooking food and washing hands are keys to preventing the spread of E. Coli.

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