Fair is sued over E. coli outbreak
Victims accuse planners of Fresno event of not warning of risks.
Marc Benjamin The Fresno Bee
Originally published 2006.05-19
The Big Fresno Fair didn’t warn that the very young and the elderly faced risks of a life- threatening B. coil virus during the 2005 fair, said a civil suit filed In Fresno County Superior Court on Thursday.
The suit stems from an illness suffered by 2-year-old Angela Malos after she attended the fair with her family. She was in Children’s Hospital Central California for nearly three months and continues to recover, said Warren Paboojian, the family’s attorney. The suit names Angela and her parents, former television news anchorman John Malos and Maria Malos Batista, as the plaintiffs. The defendants are: Great American Petting Zoo; The Big Fresno Fair; the 21st District Agricultural Association, which operates the fair; the city of Fresno; and Fresno County.
The lawsuit does not specify a dollar amount, but seeks recovery for present and future medical bills, pain and suffering, mental and emotional anguish, and loss of earning capacity.
Angela Malos was the most seriously affected of six children who suffered infections related to B. coil 0157:H7 bacteria, Paboojian said Angela Mains is still undergoing rehabilitation.
The attorney contends officials knew before the fair opened of risks to people attending live- animal exhibits. Angela had been in the petting zoo, he said.
The suit also claimed the fair did not “adequately monitor, maintain, manage, control, sanitize and clean animal waste along with other bacterial germs that were infectious and contagious.”
A county investigation of the E. coli outbreak was unable to pinpoint the infection’s source, but concluded that “there is a commonality among the cases, which is the fair.”
Two of six children visited the petting zoo, but all six children visited the livestock pavilion and animal birthing center, the county’s report said.
“That clearly indicates the petting zoo was not the source for all six,” said Stephanie Kahl, supervising environmental health specialist for the Fresno County Environmental Health Services Department. “All six cases were associated with either the livestock building or animal birthing center.”
While there is not scientific confirmation of a connection with the fair, “epidemiologically, there was this association with the fair.”
The county’s Investigation also found that The Big Fresno Fair, the state’s fifth largest, followed recommendations of the National Association of Public Health Veterinarians by removing feces
properly and making sinks equipped with sanitizing materials available to visitors with proper signs.
One concern mentioned in the report was that some of the victims did not wash their hands after touching the animals.
The fair had several English and Spanish signs in the animal-contact venues, Signs will be added in Asian languages this year, said John Alkire, chief executive officer for The Big Fresno Fair.
Signs prohibiting food and drinks in the animal-contact venues were not located in the livestock building nor were signs indicating who is at highest risk for E. coli, Those signs were posted in the reptile area in the Fur and Feathers Building and the petting zoo area, the report says.
Alkire said more signs warning about the risks of E. coli exposure will be posted this year. There will be a limited number of entrances to the livestock pavilion, and food will be prohibited inside the pavilion, Alkire said.
Last year, there were more than 100 signs at the fair urging patrons to wash their hands, 36 hand-sanitizing or washing stations in areas with animals, and 42 bathrooms with signs posted, fair officials said.
“The county report quoted parents who didn’t wash, and they said they saw the signs and felt it wasn’t necessary,” Alkire said.
In one case cited in the investigation, one of the children who became ill touched a newborn sheep, but the child’s parent told county investigators he did not believe hand washing was necessary even though he admitted seeing the signs,
Hand washing Is Imperative when it comes to animal contact, said Tim Casagrande, environmental health services director for Fresno County.
“That is the mode of contact and mode of entry for the disease,” he said. “You need to wash your hands before you eat or touch your mouth. it appeared that didn’t occur and could have been one of the significant contributions to the illnesses,”
The fair will not have a petting zoo this year because a children’s park is being built on the site near the Butler Avenue gate.
Alkire said a second reason the petting zoo will not return is because petting zoos are unable to obtain Insurance,
