Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
A 12 -year -old girl died and seven other children were transported to hospital in a severe food poisoning epidemic centered on a French city in the north.
The symptoms began to emerge on June 12 in and around Saint-Contin, south of Lille, the children rushed to the hospital during the following days.
The cause of the epidemic has not yet been identified because children, aged 1 to 12, would not have been mixed in the same groups.
The girl died on Monday from a rare condition called uremic hemolytic syndrome (HUS) linked to acute renal failure, According to the local prefect in the Aisne region. The most common cause of infection is E.coli bacteria.
The last case was reported on Wednesday evening, said the regional health region of Hauts-de France.
The eight children were admitted to the hospital with serious digestive symptoms, such as bloody diarrhea, and five of them had developed Hu, said authority.
The health authorities carry out a biological analysis in order to identify the bacterial strain involved in each case.
They said that there was no indication that the children ate meals together and that they had excluded any problem with local tap water, which “can be used to drink and for all end of day”.
Infectious disease (HUS) is most often caused by E.Coli food poisoning, authorities said. However, as the families involved had provided their food from various places, the origin of contamination is difficult to find.
The food inspectors studied if the contaminated meat was behind the epidemic. Several butchers from Saint-Contin were closed on Thursday, Sisne Novelle reported.
A butcher said that all of his meat, marinades and spices had been removed to be checked.
Parents were invited to be vigilant and to ensure strict hygiene at home, the authorities advising regular washing of the hands, washing fruit and vegetables, thoroughly cooking and separation of raw and cooked food.
