August 2, 2000
		E. coli Infected Meat Kills Again! Since July 19, forty Wisconsinites have been stricken with E.coli poisoning that authorities are linking to a Milwaukee Sizzler restaurant, including three-year-old Brianna Kriefall who died of hemolytic kidney failure last Friday. According to Dr. Kelly Henrickson, an infectious disease specialist at Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin Medical, at least two other children have developed this deadly syndrome. According to the city health commissioner, 18 adults and 22 children have been stricken, and 17 have been hospitalized. This particular strain of E. coli is spread through the consumption of undercooked, contaminated meat or from person to person. Infections often manifest as bloody diarrhea and can cause kidney failure. The Sizzler has been closed since last Wednesday, and laboratory analyses should be completed later this week. E.coli is also behind the recent meat industry recall of narly 350,000 pounds of ground beef that may have been contaminated with the deadly bacteria. Moyer Packing Co. of Souderton, PA, produced the product. The contamination was discovered in routine testing, and had been distributed to wholesalers in Connecticut, Delaware, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Wisconsin. There has been some speculation that the beef may have been the cause of the recent Sizzler E.coli outbreak, that has so far caused one death and multiple sicknesses. This strain of E. coli bacteria is deadliest to children, the elderly, and those with compromised immune systems.