<EM>E. coli</EM> Cluster in Ohio Declared Outbreak

A cluster of E. coli cases in Franklin County was declared an outbreak yesterday, as reports of new cases accumulated and workers in a local emergency room registered an unusual number of patients with gastrointestinal problems.

Three E. coli cases within the county have been linked genetically, which means they are likely from the same source. That prompted the Columbus Public Health declaration of an outbreak.

Four new cases are being investigated within Franklin County, bringing to 11 the number of E. coli infections reported to central Ohio health officials since early June.

A 14-year-old Franklin County girl appears to have been infected, said Mitzi Kline, spokeswoman for the county Health Department. Columbus officials wouldn't provide the age or gender of the three people infected within their jurisdiction.

The seven cases outside Franklin County have not yet been processed by the state lab and have not been officially linked to the three here, said Ohio Department of Health spokesman Kristopher Weiss.

Health departments from the city, state and three counties where cases have been found — Delaware, Fairfield and Franklin — are working together on the investigation and plan to give daily reports on new cases and any progress in determining a source. The three linked cases in Franklin County were not caused by the strain found in a 52-year-old Gahanna woman who died May 27.

Read the full Columbus Dispatch story here.