Louisburg Cider Mill president caught off guard by news of E. coli outbreak

Almost a month had passed before Josh Hebert was contacted by health officials regarding an E. coli outbreak at Louisburg Cider Mill.

Hebert, president and general manager of the mill, said news from Kansas health officials that the outbreak may have originated during the Louisburg Cider Mill Ciderfest caught him off guard.

“This is our 39th year of being in business, and we’ve never had an issue like this,” Hebert said Thursday in a phone interview with The Star.

Hebert was contacted last week and informed that health officials were investigating the outbreak among people who attended Ciderfest from Sept. 24-25 and Oct. 1-2 in Louisburg.

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment announced Wednesday that seven cases have been confirmed so far, but the investigation is ongoing.

The Kansas Department of Agriculture, the state health department and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration conducted an on-site assessment Oct. 27.

Hebert said those entities tested manufactured products, processing equipment and some retail items. The samples tested negative, he said.

The Ciderfest featured more than a dozen food vendors, a pony ride station and animals such as goats and pigs, Hebert said. He surmised — pure speculation, he called it — that any of those entities could have been the source of the outbreak.

“Really, it’s hard to say what has been the cause,” Hebert said.

In a letter to customers detailing the investigation, Hebert wrote: “Our products are safe for consumption and not the source of the outbreak.”

Hebert also wrote that the business will continue to assist in the investigation “in an effort to understand how this outbreak occurred and how it can be avoided.”

Anyone who became ill within one to 10 days of attending the Ciderfest is asked to call the state health department’s Epidemiology Hotline at 877-427-7317.

This story was originally published November 3, 2016 at 8:56 PM with the headline "Louisburg Cider Mill president caught off guard by news of E. coli outbreak."