Court records indicate that the state board that runs the Del Mar Fairgrounds will pay at least $4 million to settle a lawsuit brought by families affected by the 2019 E.coli outbreak that killed one child and caused severe illness in several others.
In March, Superior Court Judge Keri Katz approved settlements with families whose young children became ill after visiting the San Diego County Fair, testing positive for shiga toxin-producing E. coli infections.
A total of $1.3 million in settlements are listed in court documents, including $1 million to Cristiano Lopez — then a 2-year-old — who was diagnosed with a deadly condition called hemolytic uremic syndrome that put him in the hospital for 12 days while he underwent dialysis.
Lopez, and all the others listed in settlement documents, survived. However, Jedidiah Cabezuela, also 2 years old at the time of the outbreak, died after experiencing the same kidney-wasting complication that Lopez did.
Court documents list no specific settlement with the Cabezuela’s family, though his mother’s name is included in the lawsuit’s title.
John Gomez, whose firm jointly represented the families with another group in Texas, said in an email that the Cabezuelas received $3 million. The payment was not included in legal filings because settlements with adults do not require court approval.
Gomez said he has no additional comment on the settlements which, according to court documents, will be paid out over several years, at least in cases where minors are involved.
Neither he nor representatives of the 22nd District Agricultural Association responded when asked whether these settlements, which together total about $4.3 million, were all payments made in relation to E. coli lawsuits connected to the 2019 fair.
Bill Marler, a Seattle attorney with decades of experience in food safety law who has represented dozens of families with loved ones sickened by E. coli infections, said the settlements generally seemed reasonable based on an expected judgment of between $3 million and $5 million at trial for the Cabezuela case alone.
He said judgements can be much higher in situations where a person survives, but becomes irreparably injured. One recent case, he said, involved a young person who suffered a debilitating stroke after infection who will forever struggle with severe impairments.
“He can no longer walk, talk or feed himself but will likely have a 40- to 50-year life expectancy where he’s going to need round-the-clock care,” Marler said.
The 2022 fair starts Wednesday, and it is the first time since 2019 that the event will operate at full capacity after a very limited engagement in 2021 and pandemic cancellation in 2020.
Animal-related events remain on the docket this year, including daily pig races, cow and goat milking demonstrations, a horse show and the traditional Junior Livestock Show & Auction. According to a 35-page guide posted on the fair’s website, the auction runs from June 18 through June 26. Daily pen cleaning and immediate removal of sick animals are specifically called out in the guide, though common infection control measures, such as regular hand washing, are not.
No petting zoo or pony rides are listed in the fair’s online calendar this year, though it was not clear if the list is comprehensive. Those two locations were heavily scrutinized in 2019 after E. coli infections began to appear, though testing of animals in the fair’s petting zoo and pony rides came back negative. Testing of livestock was much less comprehensive because most animals had already left the event by the time it became clear that an outbreak was underway.
Walls and pens used by livestock were swabbed and tested, with none of 32 environmental samples confirming the presence of the particular type of E. coli present in those who became ill.
Marler, the Seattle attorney specializing in food safety, said that eliminating petting zoos is common after lawyers with organizations come to understand potential risks and the court settlements they may cause.
Cattle are the main known reservoir of the type of E. coli that caused the 2019 outbreak, according to an exhaustive analysis from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The virus generally appears in a cow’s droppings, which can easily end up mixed with dirt, mud and even dust that is part of or close to animal living quarters.
Marler said families would do well to keep this in mind when entering livestock barns where cattle and other types of animals are housed, making sure to keep all food consumption separate. Given that it only takes a microscopic amount of bacteria to cause a deadly infection, and the fact that some outbreaks have been linked to bacteria carried in dust that can blow around in a breeze, it just does not make sense to be eating while passing through these spaces.
“Eat your cotton candy, eat your ice cream cone, your hamburger, everything, outside,” Marler said. “That way, you’re not mixing potential contamination with the main path that a pathogen takes to get into your body.”
Kids of all ages, but especially the young ones, he added, should be kept from touching animals and from putting their hands in their mouths while inside livestock barns and should have their hands washed after exiting. Parents should also, he added, remember that the ground they are pushing their strollers across could have trace amounts of bacteria-carrying material present, so should put away items such as pacifiers and bottles when in these areas.
And some habits that generally cause zero consequences should be set aside in places where animals live.
“When your kid drops his binky on the ground, the first one, you might sanitize it, but if it’s your third kid, you might just wipe it on your jeans and give it back to them,” Marler said. “There are reasonable precautions that parents should take in order to protect their kids.”
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