A case that changes dimension. This Monday, the Saint-Quentin prosecution (Aisne) announced that a legal inquiry was opened last Thursday, in parallel with the health investigation, after the severe food poisoning of children in the department. Since June 12, 19 children have been hospitalized for glairo-wandering diarrhea and one of them, a 12-year-old girl, died last Monday.
“This preliminary investigation was opened against X of manslaughter, involuntary injuries, endangering the life of others and deception on goods presenting a danger to human life,” according to a prosecution’s statement.
The bacterium E. coli in question
On Sunday, eight children were still hospitalized, including six having developed a hemolytic and uremic syndrome (Shu), a serious complication affecting the kidneys and requiring treatment by dialysis, explained the Minister of Health Yannick Neuder during a press point in front of the Saint-Quentin hospital.
It is a contamination to the bacteria Escherichia coli (E. coli), confirmed the minister on Sunday. If the source of this contamination is not yet known with certainty, it is “probably a food infection on meat originally,” he said.
Four butcher shops in Saint-Quentin, as well as the butcher’s rays of two conurbation supermarkets, have been closed preventively in recent days. Samples taken from these stores are being analyzed.
The results of these analyzes are expected “by the end of the week”, and “the food surveys on the origin of the contamination carried out in the past two days have not highlighted new businesses”, according to the prefecture.
