A severe bacterial E. coli infection that killed a 4-year-old girl in west central Minnesota four years ago has now played a role in the death of her mother. 
 
 Karen Odens died at age 39 on July 14 from prolonged complications of an E. coli infection she contracted while providing extensive care in 2014 for her daughter, Sophia, her father said. 
 
 Odens was inseparable from her daughter — fishing off the dock at their home, playing My Little Pony, dressing up together for Halloween, said her father, Ed Welke. 
 
 She struggled with post-traumatic stress following Sophia’s death, Welke said, but also was hospitalized 30 times due to complications from her own infection. 
 
 “The last four years have been really pretty rough,” he said, “and the strange thing is, we never could figure out what Sophia ate” that caused the initial infection of the harsh E. coli O157 strain. 
 
 Welke said his family hopes that others will learn from the tragedy by washing their produce thoroughly, fully cooking meat and taking other precautions to prevent foodborne infections. 
 
 E. coli outbreaks occur every year in Minnesota, mostly as a result of eating food contaminated with the bacteria. Nine confirmed outbreaks in 2015 were traced to restaurants, a day-care center and even a county fair, according to the Minnesota Department of Health. This year, 12 E. coli infections and two deaths in Minnesota have been traced to a national outbreak involving contaminated romaine lettuce grown in the southwestern United States. 
 
 Most cases produce severe stomach cramps and diarrhea. But it can also produce a condition known as hemolytic uremic syndrome, which can lead to life-threatening kidney problems. 
 
 The infection can be spread by person-to-person contact, especially in child-care facilities and situations where caregivers or others come in contact with the fecal matter of people who are infected, said Carlota Medus, an epidemiologist supervisor in the health department’s foodborne diseases unit. 
 
 Already this year, the state has ordered more than a dozen children to stay home from child-care facilities until their risks of spreading E. coli have passed. 
 
 “When the public thinks about E. coli, they often think about ground beef,” Medus said. “But [person-to-person transmission] absolutely is a risk. Stool to hand to mouth or stool to surface to hand to mouth — any variation on that theme.” 
 
 Underlying health conditions increase the risks of complications or deaths from E. coli infections, Medus said. 
 
 Trusted pharmacist 
 
 Odens earned a doctorate in pharmacy from North Dakota State University and worked for a decade at Pelican Drug in Pelican Rapids, Minn., where she became a trusted resource for the community’s growing Somali immigrant population. 
 
 “I want people to remember how caring she was,” her father said. “Men and women would come in and ask for Karen.” 
 
 Complications from her own illness eventually forced Odens to give up her job. She suffered swings of dangerously high blood pressure followed by equally hazardous low levels that would disrupt her kidneys. Eventually, kidney failure caused her to need dialysis. 
 
 According to her obituary, Odens is survived by her spouse, Eric, and her son, Oliver. A funeral service will be held Saturday in Detroit Lakes. ||||| Two children from the same family have died after contracting a deadly form of E.coli, Public Health England (PHE) has confirmed as officials admitted they have no idea what led to the infection. 
 
 There are fears of a wider outbreak as inspectors and health officers continued to investigate the course of contamination. 
 
 The children, whose names ages have not been released, were from the Charnwood area of Leicestershire and were treated in the past two weeks. 
 
 The siblings died after their kidneys were affected with a complication of E.coli called hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS). The strand typically affects elderly people and young children. 
 
 Experts at PHE warned that people can become infected with E.coli via a number of ways including contaminated food, contact with farm animals and infected water. 
 
 Dr Lauren Ahyow, Consultant in Communicable Disease Control at PHE East Midlands said: “E. coli is an infection that causes a spectrum of illness ranging from mild through to severe bloody diarrhoea, mostly without fever. 
 
 "Sometimes the infection can cause a condition called haemolytic uraemic syndrome (HUS) which affects the kidneys and can be very serious. Young children and elderly people are more prone to development of complications associated with E. coli.
– In a tragic turn of events, two English children from the same family have died after contracting E. coli, the BBC reports. The kids, whose names and ages haven't been released, lived in the Charnwood area of Leicestershire. They died from haemolytic uraemic syndrome, a complication of E. coli that affects the kidneys. Public Health England is reportedly searching for the "source of infection" and have taken samples from the family's home. While officials tell the BBC that they are not treating the cases as an E. coli outbreak, the Telegraph notes that there "are fears of a wider outbreak." There are hundreds of E. coli cases across the UK each year, according to the paper, but fatalities are uncommon. "People can be reassured that E. coli is a relatively rare infection, a health official says, adding that "Good hygiene for all and supervised hand hygiene for small children is essential" to prevent infections. In the US, there was a recent E. coli outbreak linked to ground beef. Colorado meatpacker Cargill Meat Solutions last month recalled more than 132,000 pounds of ground beef after one person died and 17 were sickened. And this month, JBS Tolleson recalled 6.5 million pounds of ground beef after at least 57 people in 16 states were contracted salmonella.