Brittany Cambell, middle, stands with husband Terrance Cambell, left, and daughter Alameda Cambell at Riverside Park in La Grande. Brittany Cambell tested positive for Shinga toxin-producing E. coli in January, and it has completely dominated her life since.  

LA GRANDE — For the last two months, E. coli has completely dominated Brittany Cambell’s life.

Cambell distinctly remembers eating dinner around 6 p.m. on Jan. 8, but something didn’t taste right and she ended up tossing out her pre-packaged salad. Then around 2 a.m. Cambell said she woke up feeling incredibly ill.

“I got super sick,” she said. “It was so incredibly painful.”

At first, she tried to muddle through it — thinking it was indigestion or a stomach bug. However, by around 10 a.m. on Jan. 9 she “couldn’t take it anymore” and went to urgent care. She got labs done and a stool sample taken.

The following day, her tests came back positive for Shinga toxin-producing E. coli — also known as STEC.

What is E. coli?

There are many different strains of E. coil — many of which are harmless and live in the intestines of both people and animals, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In fact, E. coli is an important part in creating a healthy human intestinal tract. Some strains can cause illness though.

Many of these strains do not cause problems and most people with a healthy immune system recover without treatment, said Carrie Brogoitti, director of public health at the Center for Human Development.

However, other strains produce a powerful toxin — called Shinga toxin — that can lead to severe illness, according to the Oregon Health Authority.

In the midsts of illness

Cambell describes the early days of her illness as “a blur of misery.” There was nothing she could do other than push fluids and wait it out.

The CDC says that hydration is very important for people ill with STEC. However, other than staying hydrated and other “non-specific supportive therapy,” there is no treatment for Shinga toxin producing E. coli.

In fact, the CDC says that antibiotics should not be used to treat STEC. This is because there is no evidence that antibiotic treatment is helpful for these strains of E. coli and taking them could actually increase the risk of developing hemolytic uremic syndrome — a potentially life-threatening complication that develops in around 5-10% of people diagnosed with STEC.

Antidiarrheal medications may also increase the risk.

At one point Cambell said she went to the emergency room — where she got some liquid to help numb her stomach and possibly an IV. A few days later she got another IV at her primary care doctor’s office.

She was still miserable, but it was at a much more manageable level.

In Oregon, healthcare providers and laboratories are required to report both confirmed and suspected cases of Shiga toxin-producing E. coli to local health departments.

Cambell said she was interviewed twice by the Department of Health.

“They went really in depth for a two week area around the time period where I was having problems and went through in really deep detail anything I could have eaten, drank, touched. Whether it be canned food, fresh food, wild food, just the whole nine yards,” she said.

In 2023, there were a total of two STEC cases in Union County, according to OHA’s monthly communicable disease surveillance report. There was also one case each in Wallowa and Grant counties, while Baker County had cases. Umatilla and Morrow counties had the most cases — with 14 and 17, respectively.

So far in 2024, there has only been one reported case in Union County and none in the others.

Not out of the woods

By Feb. 15, Cambell was no longer testing positive for STEC. However, she started testing positive for enteropathogenic E. coli.

“The Shinga toxin E. coli was so severe and such a bad strain that it completely shredded my gut health and my stomach,” Cambell said.

Since getting sick, Cambell said she lost around 35 pounds. For nearly two months she was on a liquid diet of teas and broths with the occasional cup of Jell-O or protein shake, the latter of which still caused her discomfort.

“If I eat anything as small as a stick of jerky, within an hour, it is terribly painful in my stomach. … It’s terrible. I can’t eat,” she said. “Anything of any substance is really painful within half an hour of ingesting.”

The combination of illness and liquid diet left Cambell feeling incredibly tired and weak. There were days she had to cancel appointments, activities and events both for herself and for her children because she didn’t have the energy.

“Luckily I have my husband or I don’t know how I would have made it through this,” she said.

He picked up the tasks around the house that Cambell normally would handle — in addition to work and all his normal duties.

On the days she was feeling good enough to go out there was a lot to consider that she didn’t previously have to worry about. She had to ask herself, “is there a bathroom I can get to right away if it flares up?”

Turning a corner

Near the end of February, Cambell finally felt like she turned a corner. She was recommended an over-the-counter probiotic, which has “definitely been a game changer.”

Still, Cambell feels noticeably weaker than she did before she got sick.

Cambell said that the probiotic has helped immensely with the pain, but if she stops taking it she goes back to feeling sick within 48 hours.

She is scheduled to see a specialist in Boise, Idaho, in the coming days.

Spread and prevention

Infections occur when someone swallows Shinga toxin-producing E. coli, according to the CDC. Typically, this happens when a person gets a tiny — usually invisible — amount of human or animal feces in their month.

This can happen in a number of ways, including eating contaminated food, drinking unpasteurized milk or water that has not been disinfected, contact with cattle or contact with the feces of infected people.

Sometimes it is easy to figure out where the contact happened, such as working with cows or changing a diaper. Other times it can be more difficult, like eating an undercooked hamburger or a contaminated piece of lettuce.

“Good handwashing is key to preventing infection and transmission of E. coli,” Brogoitti said.

Cambell said that her family doubled down on good hand washing to help ensure the diseases did not spread to anyone else in the household.

“We have to practice good hand washing anyway because I have five kids in four schools, so they’re petri dishes,” she said with a laugh.