Petting Zoo Sued Over Boy's E.Coli Death

A 2-year-old boy died from an E. coli bacterial infection that he, along with 106 other people, caught after visiting a petting zoo at a county fair, a lawsuit claims.

Hunter "Gage" LeFevers died last October, nearly two weeks after visiting the petting zoo at the Cleveland County Fair in North Carolina, which was owned and operated by the Tennessee-based Circle G Ranch: Wild Animal Park, and Camel Safari.

According to court documents, the boy pet several animals and touched straw bedding while in the petting zoo and later touched the ground and other surfaces that were contaminated with E. coli 0157:H7.

E. coli bacteria is common and generally harmless, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that this particular strain, often spread by infected farm animal feces, causes serious gastrointestinal symptoms including bloody diarrhea in 5 percent to 10 percent of people who come in contact with it. Up to 5 percent of those who become severely ill -- about 60 people a year -- die from the infection.

In the complaint, Joshua and Jessica LeFevers say their son was supervised at all times and they followed all instructions given to them by employees and posted on signs. When they exited the zoo, they attempted to wash the boy's hands but the washing station was out of soap, according to the complaint.

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After the boy fell ill, his parents took him to the hospital, they say in the complaint. Although he had bloody diarrhea, he wasn't admitted until he was taken to a pediatric clinic several days later, the complaint says. From there he was admitted to a second hospital where he was diagnosed with E. coli 0157:H7 infection and hemolytic uremic syndrome, a condition that predominantly strikes children and leads to anemia and kidney failure, according to the complaint.

"Gage LeFevers received intensive medical treatment including dialysis over the next several days in the Intensive Care Unit at Levine Children's Hospital," his parents say in the complaint.

Despite treatment, the boy died a few days later.

This isn't the first time North Carolina has had an E. coli outbreak caused by a contaminated petting zoo. In 2004, 108 visitors to the North Carolina State Fair reported getting sick from an E. coli 0157:H7 infection that was later traced back to the fair's petting zoo. The following year, the state passed "Aedin's Law" in honor of 2-year-old Aedin Grey who fell ill during the outbreak.

The law mandates all petting zoos operating in the state provide soap-and-water hand washing stations within 10 feet of the exit, signage warning of the potential risk of animal contact, and fences separating humans from animal pens. It also bars visitors from bringing food, drinks, baby bottles or pacifiers into animal pens.

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Speaking on behalf of the LeFevers, their attorney, Fred Pritzker, said the fair and petting zoo failed to follow the law and didn't do enough to protect patrons, including his clients. He said that among other infractions, they didn't provide adequate hand washing stations, properly dispose of animal waste or take adequate measures to control feces contamination to other parts of the fairgrounds through rain runoff.

O. Max Gardner, III, the attorney for The Cleveland County Fair said in an email statement to ABC that the fair's animal contact exhibits were fully inspected by state and local health agencies and found to be in full compliance with all applicable laws. He said that the fair also went above and beyond what they were legally required to do, placing signage and hand-washing stations in areas not required under Aedin's law.

"Despite this level of compliance by the Fair, this outbreak demonstrates that outbreaks may occur even when thorough control measures have been implemented," he said in the statement.

Gardner also said that the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and the Cleveland County Health Department initiated a comprehensive review of Fair activities and determined the source of the E. coli outbreak was the Circle G Ranch petting zoo.

David Hood, lawyer for the Circle G Ranch, responded in a statement saying in part, "…. The Circle G Ranch followed all the regulations spelled out under state law, and the state investigator agreed with that conclusion. The Ranch did not screw up and cause the problem."

The public health investigation determined that the petting zoo was the source of the deadly E. coli and that it likely spread to seating areas and the parking lot of the fair due to heavy rains. However, Julie Henry, a spokeswoman for the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, said the purpose of the report was "not to assign blame, but to determine the source of the outbreak and how to prevent it from happening again."

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What Heterosexual Couples Can Learn From Same-Sex Spouses

In this marriage, when there's a mouse in the house, both spouses run for cover. And when a spider appears, "We have to fight over who has to catch it," said Kristen Ellis-Henderson, 42, and the mother of two young children.

Ellis-Henderson and her wife, Sarah, 41, have been married since 2011 in New York. But now, as 13 states make same-sex marriage legal, they and other gay families may be redefining what a marriage looks like.

The couple, from Sea Cliff, appeared on the cover of Time magazine in March with the headline, "Gay Marriage Already Won."

And just last week, the high court ruling dismantled the Defense of Marriage Act, which banned same-sex couples from enjoying the same federal marital benefits as heterosexual couples.

Same-sex couples hail the end of DOMA.

"We did not expect the Supreme Court ruling," Ellis-Henderson said. "We were in shock, but are still elated. It feels like every morning it's Christmas. Never in my lifetime did I think we'd see equality on this level.'

But with that equality comes an interesting shift in the gender expectations in a marriage. How does the Ellis-Henderson household -- with two 4-year-olds they conceived on the same day by in vitro fertilization and delivered just three weeks apart -- compare to the male-female union down the street?

"At certain times we go two weeks without the garbage going out," Ellis-Henderson said. "I know these are stereotypical roles -- but neither one of us wants to do hard labor. We have no handyman, no one to fix the toilet. We have to hire someone. We use a landscaper for everything and a neighbor, Mike, down the road to pick up the dead mouse."

See a timeline of the gay rights movement.

Her wife, Sarah Kate, is a marketing executive who commutes to New York City each day and is the major breadwinner. Kristen, a bass player with the all-female country-rock band Antigone Rising and author of "Times Two," takes on a larger role as the caregiver.

"I try to be sensitive and every relationship is different," she said. "Most of our friends are heterosexual and they do laugh how nice it would be. We meet in the middle in our roles and where we handle the children, we are the same."

But what Kristen-Ellis describes as "having constant back-up" in the mothering arena, something that comes natural to both women, can be a problem.

"There are days when we have to double check that we didn't give medication twice," she said. "My friends laugh."

Sociologists are eager to look at the outcome of same-sex marriages over the long haul and what happens to household dynamics when gender is no longer a part of the equation.

The National Institutes of Health has given $1 million to researchers at San Diego State University to study 1,000 gay and straight couples and their siblings who have been followed over a decade, since 2000 when same-sex civil unions were legalized in Vermont.

"The same-sex couples who got civil unions in Vermont in 2000 will always be the longest legal gay couples in North America," study author Esther Rothblum told the New York Times, which first reported the grant. "There is so much to learn by following them, but we really know very little. Most of the questions people ask me about same sex marriage, my answer is, 'We don't know yet.' "

The first data was published in 2004 in the Journal of Family Psychology and then followed up again in 2008 in the journal Developmental Psychology. Initial findings were that these couples were happier than their heterosexual counterparts and reported less conflict and higher levels of intimacy.

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'Extreme Weight Loss': Husband and Wife Lose Combined 310 Pounds

Jason and Rachel were extremely overweight.

Parents of 5-year-old twins, the couple from South Lyon, Mich., used food to bury problems in their marriage, including a separation during which Rachel, 34, reconnected with an old boyfriend.

They needed help. Chris Powell, fitness trainer and host of ABC’s “Extreme Weight Loss,” showed up and pledged to help them lose the weight. They became the first married couple Powell would train together.

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Rachel’s starting weight was 290 pounds. Her 35-year-old husband tipped the scale at 362 pounds.

They worked out, ran, modified their diet and saw results. At their 90-day weigh-in, Rachel had lost 75 pounds, and her husband had lost 86 pounds.

Their results weren’t as dramatic at their next weigh-in, so Powell increased the intensity of their program.

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At the nine-month mark, their weight loss was back on track.

WATCH: ‘Extreme Weight Loss’: Chris Powell Helps Obese Twins Get Fitter

Over the course of the program, Rachel and Jason were transformed. They were no longer overweight, and even had surgery to remove the excess skin they carried.

At their final weigh-in, Rachel weighed 145 pounds, and Jason weighed 197 pounds.

Jason was emotional.

“I’m the luckiest guy. I have two perfect kids, a gorgeous wife, everything is perfect right now,” he said.

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Obama Rekindles Broccoli Political Debate

President Barack Obama delivers remarks beside Michelle during the second annual Kids' State Dinner, July 9, 2013. Credit: Getty.

Call him Barackolli Obama or the new leader of the Green party. When asked what his favorite food is at yesterday’s second annual Kids’ State Dinner, the president replied, “Broccoli.”

The Twitterverse immediately boiled over with opinions about this cruciferous confession.

“What kind of POTUS says his fav food is Broccoli? Same one who in 2008 complained about the price of arugula at Whole Foods,” tweeted CNN commentator and former Bush press aide, Ari Fleischer.

“All GOP 2016ers will now have to pledge to never eat broccoli again,” David Plouffe, President Obama’s former campaign manager and senior adviser,?tweeted. “Maybe a new angle for Grover [Norquist].”

Emeril’s Broccoli, Cheese and Ham Healthy Breakfast Casserole

Broccoli has long been a political vegetable. In 1990, George H.W. Bush, a Republican, banned the veggie from the presidential plate, declaring, “”I do not like broccoli, and I haven’t liked it since I was a little kid and my mother made me eat it. And I’m president of the United States, and I’m not going to eat any more broccoli!”

Another noted conservative, Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, wondered, during a court discussion about the individual mandate provision of the Affordable Care Act, what would stop Washington bureaucrats from forcing citizens to buy the vegetable.

“Could you define the market — everybody has to buy food sooner or later, so you define the market as food, therefore, everybody is in the market; therefore, you can make people buy broccoli,” Scalia asked Obama administration lawyers.

But broccoli’s constituency doesn’t ?fall entirely along party lines. Preference (or hatred) for the treelike veggie appears to have a genetic component.

A recent study in the journal Current Biology explained that broccoli contains compounds called glucosinolates, which are also found in other cruciferous vegetables such as cauliflower and Brussels sprouts. Thanks to gene known as hTAS2R38, some people’s taste buds detect these chemicals as unbearably bitter, while others can’t taste them at all. If you’ve got a particular variant of this gene, no amount of cheese sauce will prevent you from gagging on the stalky green.

Whether you like the taste or not, most people concede broccoli is considered a super food by nutrition experts. One cup of chopped, steamed broccoli contains just 51 calories, a single gram of fat and 5 grams of fiber, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture database. It provides 137 percent of your daily vitamin C requirement, plus a healthy dose of vitamin A, calcium, iron and protein.

Oven Roasted Broccoli Recipe

And this is one time the president seems to be on the winning side of an argument. In 2012, the USDA’s Economic Research Service?reported that consumption broccoli of has?tripled?over the past three decades, from 1.4 pounds in 1980 to 5.6 pounds in 2010.

Do you have a nonpartisan opinion about broccoli? If so, leave a comment below.

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Smart Diapers Work With a Smartphone

About a year and a half ago Jennie Rubinshteyn and Yaroslav Faybishenko's 1-year-old daughter was crying in the back seat of their car.

"I was being paranoid. I couldn't stop asking myself and my husband, 'What is in her diaper? What's in her diaper?" Rubinshteyn, 35, told ABC News. Faybishenko responded, "Data is her diaper. Urine is full of so much health information."

And that, the couple says, was the start of a new family business in making what they call "Smart Diapers." No, the diapers don't send tweets or alerts about when there's pee or poop inside -- that's still a job for Huggies' TweetPee app. Instead, the husband-wife team have invented a regular disposable diaper with a medical trick -- it collects information about a child's urine.

A dry-reagent panel, just like those colorful sticks you pee on at the doctor, sits on the front of the diaper. It works a lot like a QR code. Using the Smart Diapers iOS and Android app, a parent can scan the panel and see information about the urine.

More Smart Diapers: Huggies Tweets When It's Time for a Change

Rubinshteyn and Faybishenko explain that parents would do this once a day, and the information about their child's urine would be stored in the app. The goal is to accumulate data about urination patterns and then use that data to spot urinary tract infections, dehydration or developing kidney problems. The app will fire off an alert if something peculiar is found.

"This is about health monitoring, not understanding whether the diaper is wet," Rubinshteyn, who has an MBA from the University of Pennsylvania and experience working in finance, said. Her husband brings the computer science and health technology experience to the table. In addition, they have two biomedical engineers on staff at their company, called Pixie Scientific.

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The Smart Diapers are still in testing, though. The couple is working with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on approval and testing them at pediatric hospitals. The goal is to bring them to hospitals and then to the broader market. The pricing isn't set yet, but according to Faybishenko, the diapers will be 30 to 40 percent more expensive than regular diapers. They plan to sell the Smart Diapers in a package with regular diapers, since they only need to be worn once a day.

But Ari Brown, a pediatrician and author of "Expecting 411" and "Baby 411," expressed some worry about the pricing and bringing this concept to parents.

"I am not sure you need this for the average kid," Brown told ABC News. "I'm not confident this a useful screen for a bladder infection because its not a clean specimen. Also, for these highly anxious parents, I am not sure it will be reassuring. It might be alarming, in fact."

Brown also added that she had never seen a child diagnosed with diabetes who's still in diapers.

Faybishenko, however, said the whole point of the digital diapers isn't to alarm but to only speak up when there is a reason to worry.

"What we want to build is protection that's unobtrusive and integrates with a parent's work flow," he said. "It speaks up when there is a reason to be concerned. It is something that stays silent most of the time, but speaks up when you need to take your child to a doctor."

Still, the entrepreneurial couple realizes they have embarked into an area that's new. The diapers will be tested starting this summer at hospitals, including New York Presbyterian Hospital in New York City. "We are in new territory here," Rubinshteyn said.

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Brainwave Test for Patients or Profit?

A wiry weave of brainwave-reading electrodes designed to detect signs of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is drawing skepticism from experts who say behavior trumps brain activity when diagnosing ADHD.

The device, dubbed NEBA for "Neuropsychiatric EEG-Based Assessment Aid," was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Monday to help confirm an ADHD diagnosis, a complex label borne by some 6.4 million U.S. kids. But critics say the gadget puts profits before patients.

"I don't know that this is going to help the situation at all," said Rachel Klein, a professor of child and adolescent psychiatry at NYU Langone Medical Center. "I think it's going to make people spend money needlessly."

During a 15-minute test, the NEBA system measures and compares two kinds of brainwaves through electrodes on the scalp. Studies have found that kids with ADHD tend to have different brainwave ratios than those without the disorder, but Klein said there's "nothing to suggest" the comparison works to diagnose individual children.

"When a child walks into the office, we already know there's a problem. The issue is whether it's ADHD or something else," she said, noting that learning disabilities and certain mood disorders can share symptoms with ADHD. "We have no idea whether [the makers of NEBA] have been able to discriminate ADHD from something else."

NEBA Health, the Augusta, Ga., company that makes the device, has yet to publicly release data from a trial of 275 children on which the FDA based its approval.

"The study results showed that the use of the NEBA System aided clinicians in making a more accurate diagnosis of ADHD when used in conjunction with a clinical assessment for ADHD, compared with doing the clinical assessment alone," the FDA said in a statement, providing no further details about the comparison or the significance of the results.

Multiple calls to NEBA Health were not immediately returned.

An ADHD diagnosis is typically based on interviews with parents and teachers, though Klein admits not all general practitioners have time to take such a thorough history.

"There's no way someone can do the child justice in a 10- or 20-minute visit," she said, stressing that the diagnosis should be reserved for child psychiatrists and psychologists with the proper training. "You need a lot of background information, and you just don't have the time to get it in a regular medical practice."

Klein fears that busy GPs might buy into the NEBA system, which generates a readout of brainwave activity similar to the squiggly lines of a lie detector test, as a way to simplify a complex diagnosis.

"They can charge for it and it gives you a pseudo-scientific basis for the diagnosis – a piece of paper with little wiggles and you can say they're not the wiggles you expect," she said, adding that she hopes parents "understand the limitations of the test" and "realize they don't have to rely on commercial promotions."

The cost of the NEBA system and the proposed charge for the test has not been made public.

ADHD diagnoses are on the rise among U.S. children and teens, climbing steadily by 5 percent a year, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In 2007, roughly 2.7 million U.S. kids were receiving medication for the disorder, according to a CDC survey of parents.

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7 Facts About Delivering With a Midwife

With all the talk about the Duchess of Cambridge planning for a “natural” birth of England’s future monarch, it’s a great opportunity to talk about the pros and cons of delivering with a midwife.

In England, many more women chose to have their births attended by a certified nurse midwife than we do here in the US.? After having the privilege of delivering more than 1,000 babies as a Board-certified Ob-Gyn, ?I have some tips for women who are considering this option.

From Kate’s pregnancy fashion to the odds on the name, click here for full coverage of the royal baby.

This is by no means a scientific or exhaustive discussion on the option of natural delivery or delivering with a midwife; it is simply a birds-eye view into the discussion that I would have with you if you were in my office or clinic.? I chose not to include statistics not because they?aren’t?important, but because 60 percent means nothing to you when it will be either 100 percent or zero percent for you personally.? We?aren’t?gambling or playing the odds here; we are considering what you as one pregnant woman may want to know before your labor and delivery train leaves the station!

My words here are meant to start the dialogue you may have with your health care provider, and also to give you some insight into my thoughts as an obstetrician and mother.? I hope it is helpful!

Delivering With a Midwife Does Not Necessarily Equal ‘Natural’ Childbirth

This is a myth that many people believe to be true.? I had the opportunity and great experience of working hand-in-hand with the best midwives in NYC for four years at Roosevelt Hospital, an affiliate of Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons. ?In fact, you can say that I was partially trained in the medical specialty of Obstetrics by midwives. I learned a tremendous amount from some of the best and most experienced certified nurse midwives in NYC.? (Thank you Barbara, Sandy, Jeannie and others!)

The fact is that many midwives can, will and do use the medication Pitocin, they use epidurals for pain relief, they use antibiotics when indicated and they recommend c-sections when necessary. The only procedure that midwives really cannot perform is a c-section.

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There are good midwives just as there are good obstetricians.? They key is finding one with a good reputation whom you trust.? Delivering in an environment that has the ability to rapidly respond to emergencies in minutes is also essential, in my opinion.? Using a midwife can mean having interventions just as delivering with an obstetrician can be done entirely naturally. Neither is an “all-or-none” situation. So, in many ways, in terms of the actual process of labor and delivery, midwives and obstetricians can do many of the same things.

Low-Risk Pregnancies Can Deliver With the Help of a Doctor or a Midwife

But delivering with a midwife is not recommended for high-risk pregnancies. ?The definition of high-risk can vary slightly so if you are not sure if you are considered high-risk, talk to your health care provider.? Some examples include breech presentations, placenta previa, serious maternal medical conditions, or a history of obstetric complications in prior pregnancies.

Discuss Your Wishes and Concerns With Your Provider, but Be Flexible

The vast majority of the time, labor and delivery proceed well and according to its own schedule, with little or no need for intervention.? Women were made for this!? However, childbirth, like parenthood, is a dynamic physiologic process and sometimes unanticipated issues arise. ?Just because childbirth is a natural process?doesn’t?mean that medical issues don’t occur. ?Being flexible and rolling with the punches is important physically as much as emotionally.? Remember the goal: healthy baby and healthy mommy.

There Are No Extra ‘Mommy Points’ for Delivering a Certain Way

There is so much pressure on women today: Pressure to look a certain way, pressure to act a certain way, and pressure to deliver their baby a certain way. ?We all need a reality check sometimes on the pressure that is put on us, and on the pressure we put on ourselves. ?Being a parent is hard enough, we don’t need to start the scrutiny at the moment we have our first contraction. Whether the baby comes out through the birth canal, through the abdomen, or through the ear (just kidding about the ear) does not matter.? It?doesn’t?make a woman any more or less of a woman or a mother by delivering a certain way.

Explore the Mind-Body Connection of Labor and Delivery

The feat of pregnancy and delivery continues to amaze and impress me.? The human body and female spirit is capable of incredible acts of strength and stoicism, and few things reflect that more than the process of having a baby.? Whether you are a royal mum or a regular mom, you can trust in your spirit, and in the natural strength of your body and its power.? A good way to start preparing for this fantastic experience is to explore the options of meditation, hypnosis or mind-body modeling.? These methods are safe and can be incredibly effective as a method of dealing with pain during labor. ?The only real risk is that they won’t be completely effective for you.? These methods include Lamaze, the Bradley Method, and various other forms of self-hypnosis. ?If you are considering this for your baby’s birth, I say, “Go for it!”

Minimal Intervention Does Not Mean No Supervision

Monitoring maternal and fetal vital signs during labor and delivery is important for both mommy and baby. ?Monitoring you and your baby intermittently versus continuously is an option.? Laboring and delivering in various positions is another option.? Being in different physical environments (a birthing center, a birthing tub or chair or a delivery bed) is yet another choice.? One of the most exciting deliveries I ever performed occurred in a birthing center with the mom on all-fours!?? There was no fancy equipment — just me, my patient and our nurse.? We had to rely on our knowledge, our judgment, our assessment and our communication with each other.

Everything turned out well, and my patient’s labor progressed smoothly. However, it’s important to remember that if there are signs that the baby or mom are not doing well, intervention is indicated to reduce the chances of serious complications to mother and baby.?? This may include anything from supplemental oxygen, to IV antibiotics, to various medications.? In addition, there is time to the course of labor for both first babies and subsequent deliveries.? When women deviate significantly from this ‘labor curve’ it can be a sign that the strength of the uterine contractions are insufficient and/or that the baby is not in the right position (or is too large) to navigate the maternal pelvis.?? Again, having trust in the medical professional who is attending your birth is key for understanding and dealing with these issues if they arise.

Get Ready for an Unbelievable Experience

Ideally, you will remember the events of your labor and delivery and actually enjoy the memories in the process.? It is your unique experience and no two deliveries are identical.? I try to liken the entire process to getting on a?roller coaster: there may be ups and downs, some parts may inch along slowly, other parts may pass in seconds.? You may scream, you may laugh, you may be afraid, you may be excited.? At the end, you may be eager to do it again, or you may say, “once is enough!” ?Whatever your opinions, they are yours to share with your baby.

Welcome to one of life’s greatest adventures. ?Enjoy it, baby!

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