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A California pumpkin patch and petting zoo associated with an outbreak of E. coli O157:H7 infections reopened Nov. 6 with the owners saying environmental tests for the pathogen had come back negative.
The San Luis Obispo county health department has not posted any updates on its investigation into the outbreak since Oct. 30 and did not comment on the decision by the owners of Brookshire Farms to reopen the attraction.
The farm closed on Oct. 27 after five visitors were confirmed with E. coli O157:H7 infections. Another eight farm visitors have become ill and are awaiting tests to confirm E. coli infections.
Three of the five confirmed patients — 60 percent — have developed hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), which is a kind of kidney failure and can result in other severe outcomes such as organ failure and brain damage. Usually only a small percentage of patients in E. coli outbreaks develop HUS.
In an Instagram post the owners of Brookshire Farms said that recent tests have come back negative, but they did not say what had been tested or what lab had been used.
San Luis Obispo County Public Health has not published any information about testing of the farm’s pumpkins, animals or environment and has not posted any information about whether or not the farm has been cleared to reopen.
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