At least seven people in Stephens County, Ga., have fallen ill with E. coli in the last several weeks, leading health officials in the area to begin investigating the source of the outbreak, local radio station WNEG reports.Two of the patients were hospitalized and are now recovering. Most of the seven sickened have been confirmed to have E. coli O157:H7.
Environmental health officials are still investigating the possible source of the outbreak, Georgia District 2 Public Health spokesman Dave Palmer told Food Safety News.
“The message we’ve been telling people in the area is that if they experience symptoms like diarrhea for an unusual amount of time, they should seek medical attention,” Palmer said. “We want to make sure people wash raw vegetables and cook their meat, or if they have meat on a surface in their kitchen, clean it thoroughly. They should also wash their hands thoroughly after preparing raw meat.”
