Santa Cruz County public health officials this week closed Capitola Beach — a popular stretch of sand lined with cheerful pastel-colored houses and cozy waterside cafes — amid a E.coli epidemic.
THE E.coli The Covid-19 outbreak has sickened at least nine children, the Santa Cruz County Health Services Agency said in a statement. Four of the children live in Santa Cruz County and five are from other Bay Area counties.
All cases are linked to probable exposures at Capitola Beach or surrounding waterways, where public health officials are investigating potential sources of the bacteria.
Capitola Beach is a well-manicured stretch of sand at the mouth of Soquel Creek, and health officials this week tested the water at four nearby locations for the bacteria, including an upstream location near Nob Hill, the pier, Soquel Creek Lagoon and the channel where the water enters Monterey Bay.
The city of Capitola said in a water quality alert Tuesday that the store-lined Esplanade remains open but visitors and their pets should avoid contact with water from the ocean, streams and lagoons.
Beach closure in Santa Cruz County comes weeks after deadly disaster. E.coli outbreak in San Luis Obispo County, three hours to the south. On Tuesday, health officials confirmed that one person had died from an infection amid a cluster of cases linked to the popular Brookshire Farms.
More than a dozen people who visited the farm in late October reported symptoms, including three children who were reportedly placed in pediatric intensive care.
An investigation by the San Luis Obispo County Department of Public Health found five people had laboratory-confirmed infections. Tests of food, water and other samples taken at the farm have not revealed the specific strain found in these cases, and the exact source of the bacteria has not yet been determined, according to health officials.
“We can confirm that an individual associated with E.coli the epidemic is dead. We are sharing this information with the permission of the individual’s family,” Department of Health spokesperson Tom Cuddy said in an emailed statement. “This is truly a heartbreaking development, and our hearts go out to the family and everyone affected by this outbreak.”
The outbreak prompted Brookshire Farms to temporarily close during peak pumpkin season.
The city of San Luis Obispo canceled its annual Pumpkin Smash event scheduled for November 1 due to concerns about bacteria. The post-Halloween activity aimed to give residents a way to dispose of pumpkins while also educating them on how to properly divert organic materials from landfills.
Health officials said last week that the risk of additional exposures to E.coli the tension caused by this incident had passed.
San Luis Obispo County Health Officer Dr. Christy Mulkerin said in a news release that “based on the findings of our investigation, we believe the risk of additional exposure associated with this incident has passed and there is no longer an ongoing threat to public health.”
Mulkerin said tests of water, feed and other environmental samples at the farm did not reveal any results. E.coli 0157 and that although other bacteria were found, including other strains of E.colinone have been identified as the source of the outbreak.
“While it is frustrating not to be able to identify the exact source of infection through environmental laboratory testing, this is not unexpected, and bacterial contamination is often temporary and difficult to detect through available sampling methods,” Mulkerin said, adding that “although environmental sampling has not identified a source, clinical and epidemiologic information continues to point toward short-term shared exposure.”
Times staff writer Suhauna Hussain contributed to this report.
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