ATHOL — Adams Farm Slaughterhouse said Monday the company has been working closely with state and federal authorities to investigate five occurrences of illnesses reported in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.
On Saturday, Adams Farm Slaughterhouse, at 854 Bearsden Road, voluntarily recalled beef, veal and bison products possibly contaminated with E. coli bacteria.
A statement the family-owned business released Monday said the strain of E. coli in question has not been found in any of the company’s products or in the manufacturing facility, though the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has informed the company that five people reported eating beef products supplied by the slaughterhouse at some point before becoming sick. Consumers who have purchased these products should discard it or return it to the place of purchase.
According to the statement, most strains of E. coli are harmless, though others can cause illness. It said the strain in question is a potentially deadly bacterium that can cause bloody diarrhea and dehydration. Senior citizens, the very young, and people with compromised immune systems are the most susceptible to foodborne illness, the statement said.
The slaughterhouse advised consumers concerned about an illness to contact a physician. Anyone diagnosed by a physician as having an illness related to E. coli is also encouraged to contact state and local public health authorities.
The CDC says it is collaborating with public health and regulatory officials in multiple states and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Food Safety and Inspection Service to investigate this outbreak.
The agency states public health investigators are attempting to identify illnesses that may be part of this outbreak.
Seven people infected with the outbreak strain have been reported from four states between June 27 to Sept. 4. No one has developed hemolytic uremic syndrome, a type of kidney failure, and no deaths have been reported, according to the CDC.
It reports the Connecticut Department of Public Health collected leftover ground beef from an ill person’s home and from a restaurant for testing. That beef had been produced by Adams Farm Slaughterhouse and test results showed the outbreak strain in both samples.
Attempts to contact the United States Department of Agriculture were unsuccessful Monday.
The farm, which serves customers throughout southern New England and eastern New York, became aware of the problem on Friday afternoon, Ed Maltby, the general manager of the slaughterhouse, said Sunday, as he was working on the recall. He said he is working with the USDA to narrow the cause of the contamination.
“We want to do anything possible to prevent any spreading of illness,” he said.
The bad meat could be traced to a few hot days in August when the farm “may not have compensated for the heat,” Maltby said.
He said he was shocked by the scope of the recall, which he described as about two and a half months of production, because the farm has narrowed it down to two days in production, he said.
Maltby said the farm is reaching out to customers.
The farm had one other, minor recall involving someone who ate raw hamburger in 2010, said Maltby.
You can reach Domenic Poli at: dpoli@recorder.com or 413-772-0261, ext. 258
On Twitter: @DomenicPoli