'I was really scared for him': 4-year-old among local E. coli outbreak patients

E. coli outbreak in Edmonton Five people got sick after eating at a Filipino restaurant in Edmonton. CTV Edmonton’s Angela Jung reports.

A four-year-old boy has had a rough go since contracting E. coli at a south Edmonton Filipino restaurant two weeks ago.

Alberta Health Services (AHS) said at least five people were infected with E. coli after eating at Mama Nita’s Binalot since March 15.

A local family says they all got sick after eating there on March 18, but their youngest, Shawn, was the only one diagnosed.

“First, he started having cramps the most, but we all felt off,” his father, Jason Patterson, said. “I was afraid; I was really scared for him.”

His parents said he had cramps, looked pale, lacked an appetite, and had blood in his stool. He went to the hospital four times.

“It’s very heartbreaking to watch him cry in so much pain and going to the washroom every 5-15 minutes,” Shawn’s mother, Melanie Salas-Patterson, told CTV News.

AHS said children and the elderly are at greater risk of complications from E. coli, and ask people who ate at Mama Nita’s Binalot during that time period to monitor themselves for symptoms.

Four others also tested positive for E. coli poisoning, prompting Environmental Public Health officials to the restaurant on March 27.

“Results from that inspection did highlight some opportunities for us to work with the restaurant but did not give us a smoking gun in terms of [determining] possible risk,” Dr. Jasmine Hasselback with AHS explained.

Health officials said an E. coli infection can be a result of inadequate hand hygiene, improper meat handling or not cooking meat all the way through.

The owner of Mama Nita’s did not respond to CTV’s requests for comment.