E. coli outbreak at California pumpkin farm that left three kids in the ICU takes mysterious turn as owner speaks out
The owner of the California farm linked to the E.coli outbreak that left more than 15 people severely sick, including a 6-year-old boy fighting for his life, said his heart goes out to the suffering families.Brookshire Farms in San Luis Obispo County reopened on Nov.
6 after a 10-day voluntary shutdown while the Department of Public Health investigated the source of the E.coli outbreak.“I am destroyed,” Brookshire Farms co-owner Shawn Callaway told The Tribune Friday as the farm reopened for the public.“We’ve gone through … about 11 days now of numbness.
I can’t explain it… I mean, the worries, the fears, the concerns, the ups and downs.I mean, how do you explain it? I don’t know,” he added.
Authorities said 5 people had laboratory-confirmed E.coli O157 infections after visiting the farm on Oct.
17 or 18, while 10 additional individuals who visited the farm between Oct.16 and 26 developed matching symptoms.Three children also required pediatric intensive care after developing Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (HUS).Among the affected children is 6-year-old Camden Foy of Nipomo, who is in critical condition at Stanford’s Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital with STEC and HUS following an Oct.
17 visit to Brookshire Farms.His grandmother, Linda Strong-Foy, has been sharing constant updates on his health since his hospitalization nearly three weeks ago.Camden was admitted to a Santa Maria hospital and subsequently diagnosed on Oct.27 with HUS, prompting an emergency ambulance transfer to Stanford.The tot’s condition quickly escalated into acute neurological complications, leading to severe confusion, brain scans for potential stroke or seizure activity, intubation, and multiple rounds of blood and platelet transfusions between Oct.
29 and 30.“He’s on 5 blood pressure meds.An IV BP drip, 3 orals, and a BP patch,” Strong-Foy said in a Facebook post Monday.SLO County’s Department of Public Health collected water, food, ...