Three individuals in Lorain County have been diagnosed with Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (H.U.S.), a condition which develops out of exposure to the bacteria E.coli in 90 percent of cases. Two of the individuals are currently hospitalized.
H.U.S., which attacks the kidneys and blood, is a life-threatening disease to both children under five and elderly people.
One of the reported cases is in Oberlin and the second is in Amherst, Ohio. Both individuals are pre-school children.
The third individual is not in the critical age range, and is not hospitalized.
"At this point we don't have any determination of the source," James Boddy, director of environmental health at the Lorain County Health District, said.
He said that since the initial phase of E.coli poisoning lasts on average seven to ten days, and only after this period are the cases reported to health officials, it is very difficult to trace the source of exposure.
Boddy said that people are exposed to E.coli most commonly through eating undercooked ground beef. Boddy said that raw beef carries many bacteria and germs, but through cooking, they are killed. Thus, if undercooked, the bacteria can remain alive.
Boddy stressed that ground beef is more dangerous than other beef such as steak. Steak can be safely eaten while still undercooked in the middle because the cooked exterior acts as a barrier to the bacteria.
Ground beef however, has no such barrier, and must be cooked all the way through.
"The days of eating pink hamburger meat are over," Boddy said.
Boddy said that E.coli has also been spread via apple cider which was made from fallen, rather than picked, apples. The apples had come into contact with fecal matter of cows.
Now, experts also believe that deer are carriers of E.coli, and can pass it on in similar ways as cows.
According to Boddy, only one particular strain of E.coli, 0157-H7, has caused H.U.S. since 1982.
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