Iowa’s women have a penchant for eating bad sprouts. 5 of them have been sickened in the latest E. coli outbreak linked to contaminated sprouts on Jimmy Johns sandwiches. In addition to two Polk County women we represent for severe illnesses, three women from Linn, Johnson and Dallas counties were sickened in the E. coli outbreak. Probably more were ill too, but simply were not confirmed as official cases by the CDC.
NOTE: It is not uncommon for the official “case count” by the CDC to be outdated or simply incorrect. The CDC’s official count of deaths in the lethal E. coli outbreak linked to Dole baby spinach in 2006 was 3. In actuality, 5 people died, including three women (Ruby Trautz, Betty Howard, and June Dunning) that we represented. The other deaths were of an Idaho boy and Wisconsin elderly woman. More recently, The CDC’s official death toll in the cantaloupe listeria outbreak is 30. In fact, however, several of our clients in that outbreak have died since the CDC’s most recent update in December. The actual death toll in the cantaloupe outbreak is 34, with Mike Hauser, a gentleman from Colorado, passing away just yesterday after a devastating illness.
Back to Iowa though, a state that is no stranger to E. coli outbreaks and litigation. Here are a few past Iowa E. coli outbreaks that Marler Clark has tracked and represented people in: