最新杏吧原创

Jennifer Cumbus said in her lawsuit that her juvenile daughter fell sick Nov. 10, two days after she ate food at a Rockwood Summit High School event catered by Andre鈥檚 Banquets and Catering.

Since then, her daughter has suffered "severe and persistent cramping, malaise, dizziness, and continuous diarrhea, which later escalated to bloody diarrhea," says the suit, which was filed in 最新杏吧原创 County Circuit Court. The girl was also having trouble keeping down food and water.

Cumbus filed suit聽against Banquet Enterprises Inc., which operates Andre鈥檚 Banquets and Catering.

The county's Department of Public Health on Friday said "current details are suggestive" that the source of the illness was salad served by Andre's at two events for Rockwood Summit High.

On Monday afternoon, the department said in a news release that the 94 confirmed or suspected cases of E. coli were now linked to four events either at or catered by Andre鈥檚, with more than half the cases connected to the high school.聽

"It is important to note that current findings do not implicate any single source or party," the department said in Monday's release. "Additional testing and data analysis are ongoing to determine the exact source of the contamination."

Of those four events, one was on Nov. 7, when the Summit marching band gathered for dinner at Andre鈥檚 South on Telegraph Road in 最新杏吧原创 County. The next day, Andre鈥檚 catered an event honoring veterans at the high school, which is on Hawkins Road near Fenton.

Information on the other two events was not immediately available Monday.聽

John Armengol Jr., the second-generation owner of Andre鈥檚 Banquets and Catering, on Monday聽again聽pushed back against suggestions that his food was contaminated and called them "a witch hunt."

"That outbreak had nothing to do with Andre's," he told the Post-Dispatch. "It had nothing to do with us. It's a school issue, not an Andre's issue. We (catered) 8,000 people the last two weeks with no issues except the Rockwood Summit situation. And they had an event that we did where the students served the food that we dropped off with no gloves on 鈥� that's where the issue lies."

He said two students who came down with E. coli "were not even at any of the two Andre's events that we did."

最新杏吧原创 County officials did not respond to requests for comment on Armengol's latest statement.

Bill Marler, Cumbus' lawyer,聽said the health department has to have proof "beyond a reasonable doubt" before publicly identifying the origin of an outbreak. Cumbus is seeking unspecified damages in her suit.

The issue was first publicized on Thursday, when the Rockwood School District released a statement saying that at least 19 students and family members at Rockwood Summit had tested positive for E. coli or were displaying symptoms that were 鈥渃ompatible鈥� with a strain of the bacteria.

On Friday, county health officials put the number of people affected at 69. In a news release, the department said that those who had tested positive had attended the two school-related events hosted at or catered by Andre鈥檚, which has 31 locations across the region.

鈥淚t's most likely that this is an ingredient that came in contaminated,鈥� Marler said. 鈥淭hat doesn't mean that it's not ultimately the caterer鈥檚 responsibility, but the caterer has also the right to point the finger at the supply chain.鈥�

The suit also reiterates the health department's statement Friday that it was continuing to investigate the origin of the outbreak and that the school district "has been exceptionally cooperative, working closely with DPH to ensure thoroughness in identifying the source of this outbreak."

Mary LaPak, a spokeswoman for the school district, on Monday said there were three students hospitalized, down from 12 students in the hospital over the weekend.

The county health agency says of the 94 cases identified as of noon Monday, some were confirmed by lab testing while others had compatible symptoms and "epidemiological links" to confirmed cases.

Many types of E. coli are harmless. But 0157, the strain in the Rockwood Summit outbreak, produces a toxin that can cause severe diarrhea and lead to kidney failure, especially in young children or older adults, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The bacteria is commonly spread through undercooked meat, fresh produce or person-to-person contact.

The outbreak in 最新杏吧原创 County comes as two other E. coli outbreaks have made national headlines.聽

At least 104 people have been sickened, with 34 hospitalized, in an outbreak of E. coli food poisoning tied to onions served on McDonald's Quarter Pounder hamburgers, in cases聽reported between Sept. 12 and Oct. 21.聽Illnesses were detected in 14 states, according to an update from the CDC.

One person died in Colorado and four people developed a potentially life-threatening kidney disease complication.

Following that,聽39 people were infected and 15 were hospitalized in 18 states after eating organic whole and baby carrots sold by Grimmway Farms, the CDC said Sunday.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Updated at 4:30 p.m. Monday, Nov. 18, with information on additional cases and events.