28 people affected, one child dead, several butcher shops identified... What we know about food poisoning in Aisne

Two new cases of severe food poisoning have been recorded among children in the Saint-Quentin area (Aisne), where the poisonings affected around twenty people and caused the death of one child, the prefecture announced on Saturday, June 28. "Le Nouvel Obs" provides an update.

"Two new cases of children have been recorded," but these children did not report hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), a serious complication affecting the kidneys, and "are being monitored at home," the prefecture said in a statement. Of the 28 people affected by these severe digestive symptoms since June 12 - 27 children and one elderly person - ten developed this syndrome. An 11-year-old child, Elise, died. In addition to the two latest cases, "seven people remain hospitalized and 19 have been able to leave the hospital and return home," the prefecture said. "All patients are under continuous medical monitoring."

Analyses were conducted in butcher shops suspected of being the source of the contamination. "In the initial results of the analyses obtained, traces of contamination by the E. coli bacteria were detected in the meat or on the surfaces of some of the butcher shops that were investigated," the Aisne prefecture indicated in a press release published Friday.

The activity of five of the six establishments closed as a precaution by the authorities "remains suspended," the prefecture added. Only one point of sale - a butcher's section of an Intermarché in Gauchy - for which the results are "negative," "will be able to resume its activity after having carried out the preliminary operations," the prefecture specified.

These butcher shops do not have a common supplier, a spokesperson for the Aisne prefecture told AFP on June 21, which could complicate the search for the source of the contamination. Investigations are continuing, the prefecture added.

Meat from businesses that had been closed as a precaution was served at several events between June 20 and 22: a football tournament in Saint-Quentin (Oise), a mini-basketball party in Gauchy (Aisne) and a school fair in Étaves-et-Bocquiaux (Aisne).

The Paris public health unit of the Paris prosecutor's office took over the investigation on Wednesday into the poisonings in the Aisne region, which notably caused the death of a teenage girl, Paris public prosecutor Laure Beccuau announced in a press release on Thursday.

On June 21, the Saint-Quentin public prosecutor's office opened a preliminary investigation into the charges of involuntary manslaughter, involuntary injury, endangerment and deception aggravated by endangering human health.

The investigations were entrusted to Oclaesp (Central Office for Combating Environmental and Public Health Attacks), BNEVP (National Brigade for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Investigations) and the Saint-Quentin police station.