E COLI OUTBREAK INVESTIGATORS RAKESH HAUSER SHA AND

E. COLI OUTBREAK INVESTIGATORS: RAKESH, HAUSER, SHA, AND KHOT

BACKGROUND INFORMATION The real name for E. Coli is Escherichia Coli. The E. Coli bacteria can be found in the environment, foods, and intestines of people and animals, and unchlorinated water. Most E. Coli bacteria is harmless, others can make you sick such as E. Coli O 157: H 7. The symptoms of E. Coli are abdominal cramping, severe watery diarrhea, gas, loss of appetite, nausea, fatigue, fever, and vomiting, though it is uncommon. E. Coli can be transmitted from an infected person contaminating food or water to someone else who drinks or swims in the water, or eats the food. There aren’t many treatments for E. Coli, so if you are sick, you should be given rest and fluids to prevent dehydration and fatigue. If you have serious E. Coli infections, then you'll be given IV fluids, blood transfusions, and kidney dialysis. You should avoid taking anti-diarrheal medications. It will slow your digestive system down and prevent your body from getting rid of the toxins.

SOURCE S • Baptist Church Camp- Mrs. Thompson told the health inspector that Charlie picked up the same symptoms a couple years ago at the church camp. • Hamburgers- when cattle are slaughtered, E. Coli bacteria gets into the intestines. Many people became ill after eating from Sam and Ella’s Beefy Burgers. • Elephant Ears- Most people who became sick ate elephant ears. Elephant ears are basically just fried dough. Though it is uncommon, flour can be contaminated by E. Coli • Animals- Most people in this town keep animals for pets. There animals at the fair and an animal competition. Animals could be a major source in this outbreak.

ANALYZING THE DATA As soon as Susie Thompson died, we became more alert than ever and decided to look at the CDRs (contagious disease reports). We realized that Anthony Green was in danger because he had the same symptoms as Susie(diarrhea and stomach cramps) He also did other things causing many people to fall sick, such as eating homemade ice cream and elephants ears. We used the contagious disease reports, to see who seemed in danger of death and what seemed to be making people ill the most. We used newspaper reports and articles to see what the public thought made people ill such as Sam and Ella’s beefy burgers. Online articles helped us find out more about E. Coli, how it works, and how to prevent it.

THE PLAN Animals are a major part of the E. Coli outbreak. One solution would be to get rid of the animals at the fair, but that would cause a lot of unhappiness. Instead, we can make part of the animal show cleanliness and how well cared for the animas are. All the animals at the other parts of the fair would have to follow this, too. The food vendors are also a problem. Some of the food may be undercooked or infected. Something we might do is send people to go around checking that none of the foods are infected or undercooked and all meats are fresh. There is also one more problem. The Baptist Church Camp. A stomach bug has risen there before. Someone might also have to go there to make sure the food is fresh, make sure there is no unpasteurized milk. We will also build a swimming pool, so no one will have to swim in unchlorinated water.

MAP SWIMMING POOL

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