NEW YORK, Sep 07 (Reuters Health) -- Health officials in Washington State have traced an outbreak of E. coli O157:H7 to a lake in the southwestern part of the state.
Matt Ashworth, a spokesman for the Washington State Department of Health told Reuters Health on Tuesday that there have been 29 cases of E. coli O157:H7 reported to the department. He said that 24 of those cases had either been swimming in Battle Ground Lake or came into contact with someone who swam in the lake.
Ashworth said that that nine of the cases matched in DNA fingerprinting conducted at state laboratories. He said that three children developed hemolytic uremic syndrome, a serious complication of E. coli infection. One of these three children has fully recovered and the other two cases remain in a Portland, Oregon hospital. He added that everyone else has recovered and there have been no deaths associated with the outbreak.
The state closed the lake on August 28. Ashworth said that although health officials had not found the same strain of E. coli in the water yet, all signs point to the lake as the source.
He noted that the latest cases were reported on Saturday, but it is possible more cases would be reported to the department of health.
