An 18-month-old girl dies during an E. coli in SLO County California

The patient who died from an E. coli infection following an outbreak in San Luis Obispo was an 18-month-old girl, her grandmother confirmed.

The toddler developed hemolytic uremic syndrome, a serious and sometimes fatal complication caused by Shiga toxin-producing E. coli that can lead to kidney failure. The deadly strain is also known as STEC or E. coli O157.

The girl went to Brookshire Farms with her family in mid-October and began experiencing symptoms a few days later.

She was hospitalized for 10 days at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford and died Nov. 4, according to the girl’s grandmother, Los Osos resident Judy Wolf.

“She was a beloved child,” Wolf said in an email to The Tribune.

Wolf said his heart is broken following his granddaughter’s death.

“We are inconsolable,” she said.

The epidemic of E. coli, linked to the local farm, placed three children in intensive care and sickened at least two others, the San Luis Obispo County Public Health Department said.

The county public health department confirmed the death Tuesday but did not share details about the person at the time.

“This is a truly heartbreaking development, and our hearts go out to the family and everyone affected by this outbreak,” Tom Cuddy, public information officer for the SLO County Department of Public Health, said in a statement Tuesday. “The entire Public Health team extends our most sincere condolences to the family and loved ones during this difficult time.

Even if no specific source of E. coli O157 was found, the county said “some common potential exposures to infected individuals remain notable,” including edible corn cuttings, pumpkins, hay and non-potable water sources.

SLO County concludes investigation into E. coli outbreak coli

Last week, the Ministry of Health announced that it was completing its investigation into the E. coli outbreak. Shiga toxin-producing coli that authorities say was linked to Brookshire Farms on Los Osos Valley Road.

There have been five confirmed cases of E. coli in the outbreak – although 10 other people who visited the farm between October 16 and 26 developed symptoms and are considered “suspected cases”, according to the Ministry of Health.

Shawn Callaway, co-owner of Brookshire Farms, declined to comment Thursday.

Callaway previously told The Tribune that he and his wife had both been extremely distressed following the outbreak.

“Our thoughts are with the families, the children and the adults,” he said.

He emphasized that safety has always been a top priority for the farm, which offers a variety of seasonal activities, including pumpkins, a large corn maze and more. It can accommodate up to 1,000 guests in a single day in the run-up to Halloween.

He noted that there were still outstanding questions about the investigation and exactly how people might have become infected, particularly after environmental testing failed to confirm the presence of the specific O157 strain of E. coli bacteria that sickened people at the farm.

Callaway also said the only known connection between the confirmed cases was that they frequented Brookshire Farms. He did not know of any other common denominators among the infected individuals.

“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 with available sampling methods,” Dr. Christy Mulkerin, county health officer, said in a news release Friday.

This story was originally published November 13, 2026 at 10:07 a.m..