Local and national reporters like MSNBC’s Jonel Aleccia, CNN’s Miriam Falco, The Atlanta Journal Constitution’s Christopher Seward, New Orleans WWLTV’s Meg Farris and Food Safety News’s James Andrews have done a magnificent job piecing together a mysterious and deadly E. coli O145 outbreak that health officials are racing to solve.  Though the number keeps rising and no source has yet been found, and while questions abound, we do know the following:

There have been E. coli O145 Outbreaks in the past.

As of June 8, 2012 there have been 14 victims, 3 hospitalizations and 1 death from hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) in the following states:

  • Georgia has 5 cases that have been confirmed primarily in the Atlanta-area. Case breakdown by county is Cobb (2 illnesses), Cherokee, Coweta, and Forsyth (1 illness each).
  • Louisiana 4 cases are all in the New Orleans-area and include the tragic death of a 21-month old toddler.
  • Alabama state health officials in Montgomery have confirmed 2 victims in the state. No cities or counties are known at this time.
  • Florida state public health officials have confirmed that a 22-year-old woman in the Tallahassee-area (Leon County) has been linked to the E. coli outbreak.
  • California has identified 1 victim. No further details are known.
  • The CDC has confirmed one case in Tennessee.

The dates when those persons became ill range from April 15 to May 12, 2012, though the most recent report of a potential illness was on June 4.

Marler Clark, The Food Safety Law Firm, is the nation’s leading law firm representing victims of E. coli outbreaks and hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS). The coli E. coli lawyers of Marler Clark have represented thousands of victims of E. coli and other foodborne illness infections and have recovered over $600 million for clients. Marler Clark is the only law firm in the nation with a practice focused exclusively on foodborne illness litigation.  Our E. coli lawyers have litigated E. coli and HUS cases stemming from outbreaks traced to ground beef, raw milk, lettuce, spinach, sprouts, and other food products.  The law firm has brought E. coli lawsuits against such companies as Jack in the Box, Dole, ConAgra, Cargill, and Jimmy John’s.  We have proudly represented such victims as Brianne Kiner, Stephanie Smith and Linda Rivera.  Bill Marler, Marler Clark’s managing partner was recently profiled in the book “Poisoned,” The True Story of the 1993 Jack in the Box E. coli Outbreak.