Mar 27, 2005
Fifteen people in Florida who visited agricultural fairs recently have developed a life-threatening kidney disease or are infected with bacteria that can cause it, Florida health officials said yesterday.
Eleven of those affected are children, and petting zoos at the two fairs are suspected, but Florida’s secretary of health said it was “too early to point to one single element, such as a petting zoo.”
Epidemiologists are “trying to triangulate the 15 cases and see if they can be associated with a single point source,” the secretary, Dr. John O. Agwunobi, said.
Officials at various Florida hospitals told The Associated Press that they knew of nine children with hemolytic uremic syndrome who had visited petting zoos at the Central Florida Fair in Orlando or the Florida Strawberry Festival in Plant City. One Florida television reporter described the death of a child who had visited a petting zoo, but it was unclear if there was any connection.Continue Reading Florida Officials Seek a Link in 15 Cases of a Kidney Illness