000772 Milwaukee E. Coli Cases Laid to Sizzler SteakhouseJuly 31, 2000Milwaukee, WI - An E. coli outbreak that sickened more than a dozen people, including a 3-year-old girl who is critically ill, has been traced to a steakhouse now closed for investigation, Milwaukee health officials said. “The number of victims is growing by the minute,” Milwaukee Health Department spokeswoman Kathy Miller said. No deaths were reported, but calls poured into authorities after the health department announced that those made ill all ate at a Sizzler steakhouse on Milwaukee's West Layton Avenue between July 15 and 19, Miller said. A spokeswoman at Children's Hospital of Wisconsin said the 3-year-old girl's last listed condition was critical but her family had requested that no further information be released. Two other children less severely ill from E. coli are being kept at the hospital, and four others have been treated and released. The outbreak was caused by E. coli 0157:H7, the same strain that tainted the water supply of the Canadian farm town of Walkerton in May, causing or contributing to at least six deaths. Sizzler International Inc. said in a statement that the contamination appeared to be limited to the single outlet in Milwaukee, one of its 200 franchises nationwide. Sizzler USA, based in Culver City, California, also operates 65 company-owned restaurants. The restaurant closed voluntarily pending an investigation, and Sizzler said it would offer its resources to afflicted families.
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