County Fair, Puyallup, Washington

An outbreak of hemorrhagic colitis due to E. coli O157:H7 was identified among visitors to the Puyallup Fair in Puyallup, Washington, during September of 1998 (CDC Memorandum, March 1999). Two children were initially confirmed as being ill from E. coli O157:H7.  The Communicable Disease State Epidemiologist at the Washington State Department of Health mentioned in a news release immediately after the detection of two confirmed cases at the Puyallup fair that health officials were looking for food borne exposure as well as possible contamination at the animal petting areas and on water rides (Kobayashi, 1998).

The CDC conducted an investigation, and concluded that out of 80 ill people reporting, there were three confirmed and five probable cases of E. coli O157:H7 illness.  Of these eight cases, seven reported consuming hamburgers, though purchased from multiple vendors. The environmental investigation suggested that exposure could have resulted from consuming food without washing hands after petting the animals in the petting zoo. The internal temperature of the cooked hamburgers tested ranged between 155 to 195° F although a number of situations of potential cross contamination were observed among the food handlers.

The CDC memorandum stated that compelling circumstantial, but not conclusive, evidence was found that the outbreak was a result of consumption of contaminated hamburgers. The memorandum also recommended enforcing proper food handling practices among food vendors, installing a large number of hand washing facilities at the animal petting zoo, and also throughout the fair. It also recommended performing a hazard evaluation of all the food sold at the fair for potential risk of foodborne illnesses.