E. coli outbreak at California pumpkin farm that left three kids in the ICU takes mysterious turn as owner speaks out

An E. coli outbreak linked to Brookshire Farms in California has sickened at least 15 people, including three children who developed a serious complication and needed intensive care. The farm’s co-owner says he feels for the affected families; the case matters because investigators have not identified how the infections spread, even as the farm has reopened.

Health officials reported five laboratory-confirmed E. coli O157 infections among people who visited on 17 or 18 October, plus 10 people with matching symptoms after visits from 16 to 26 October. Environmental samples found other bacteria, but not E. coli O157, and did not establish the source. The owner says the county did not test the pumpkins and disputes that they caused the outbreak; the county says it did not mean to suggest pumpkins were the source.