RALEIGH, NC (WBTV) - Health and agriculture officials are taking steps to prevent a repeat of the E.coli outbreak that sickened 25 visitors to the N.C. State Fair in 2011.
Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler and other officials announced a number of changes Thursday in and around the three main livestock buildings.
Barriers will prevent fairgoers from getting close to livestock in some areas where previously people could come within touching distance. Visitors will be barred entirely from the Kelley Building for all but a few days of the fair. An investigation tied the illnesses to the Kelley Building, which houses livestock during the fair.
Hunter Tallent, 2, from Shelby, NC was hospitalized for 16 days after he was sickened by the bacteria.
"[I] don't remember touching a whole lot but he was in a stroller so it may have picked it up and later touched it off of the stroller," Lindsay Tallent said.
In some areas, pedestrian traffic will be shifted away from animals.
Officials also announced that food vendors are being relocated from the area between the Graham Building and Expo Center.
"Quite frankly I think it I had my druthers or the livestock had their druthers..these barns would be wide open to the public but we have to deal with reality and we have to deal with risk and we have to deal with recommendations of this commission and our public health partners," Troxler said.
Copyright 2012 WBTV. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved.
