E. coli in Aisne: 2 new cases in children, a link confirmed with one of the closed butcher shops

Two children from the same family have been infected with the E. coli bacteria in the Aisne department, bringing to 32 the number of cases recorded since the start of the alert, linked to the consumption of meat purchased from butchers, the Aisne prefecture announced this Saturday, July 5.

According to initial investigations, "this appears to be a case of contamination within the same family, linked to the consumption of meat in one of the five butcher shops that were closed," the prefecture stated in a press release. One of the children is hospitalized.

Tests carried out after the death of an 11-year-old child and a series of severe food poisoning cases in and around Saint-Quentin have confirmed the link with several of the suspected butcher shops, the prefecture announced on Wednesday.

According to this source, there is "a formal biological link between the place of supply and the contamination of patients."

Six butcher shops were closed as a precaution at the end of June; only one has been able to reopen. However, new cases can "be recorded, even after the butcher shops have closed," with diagnosis "possible several days after the onset of symptoms," the prefecture explained on Saturday.

Also, "contamination can be observed between people," she explains.

The Saint-Quentin public prosecutor's office, which had opened a preliminary investigation into the charges of involuntary manslaughter, involuntary injury, endangerment and deception aggravated by endangering human health, relinquished jurisdiction on June 25 in favor of the public health division of the Paris public prosecutor's office.