Escherichia coli O111 has been identified as the cause of an outbreak of diarrheal illness in 52 people who attended a drill team camp at the University of North Texas in Denton early last month. Health officials said E. coli O111 has caused isolated illnesses in the United States and has caused illness outbreaks in Europe and Australia. Health officials are continuing to investigate the drill team camp outbreak and hope to pinpoint a source of the illnesses. They said no new illnesses have been found in the last 12 days. The latest drill team camp participant to become ill got sick on June 22.
Infected humans can spread the bacteria via a fecal-oral transmission route.
General precautions against E. coli infections include thorough hand washing before preparing or serving foods or drinks and after changing a diaper, thoroughly washing raw fruits and vegetables and thoroughly cooking meats to an internal temperature of 160 F. Symptoms of E. coli infection can include severe abdominal cramps, diarrhea, bloody diarrhea, fever, headaches, nausea and vomiting. TDH, CDC, the U.S. Food Safety Inspection Service, the Tarrant County Health Department and the Denton County Health Department are investigating the outbreak.