Escherichia coli (abbreviated as E. coli) are bacteria found in the environment, foods, and intestines of people and animals. E. coli are a large and diverse group of bacteria. Although most strains of E. coli are harmless, others can make you sick. Some kinds of E. coli can cause diarrhea, while others cause urinary tract infections, respiratory illness and pneumonia, and other illnesses. 
 
 More ||||| PELICAN RAPIDS, Minn. — Four years ago, Karen Odens buried her 4-year-old daughter. Now, friends and family are mourning the death of Karen, a pharmacist in west-central Minnesota. 
 
 Odens, 39, is being described as someone “with a gentle smile who could melt the hearts of those around her.” 
 
 She died Saturday, July 14, her obituary said. 
 
 Odens had been hospitalized 30 times in the last four years, and it all started when her 4-year old daughter Sophia contracted an aggressive form of E. coli bacteria and died one day after her birthday. 
 
 On Feb. 5, 2014, 4-year-old Sophia began to feel ill with flu-like symptoms. The following morning, Odens — along with her husband, Eric — brought their daughter to a Detroit Lakes hospital after her symptoms went from bad to worse. Sophia would die from an E. coli bacteria infection only a few days later. Doctors ultimately could not determine where Sophia contracted the infection from. 
 
 For Odens, however, it was believed her illness was caused from time spent with Sophia in the hospital. Like her daughter Sophia, Odens’ family says it was never officially determined where Karen contracted the bacteria. 
 
 Upon contraction of the infection, Odens was initially hospitalized in 2014 for a total of 34 days, with 14 of those days in intensive care at Sanford Health in Sioux Falls, S.D. Odens went through kidney dialysis and a plasma exchange while in the hospital. 
 
 Odens, who earned a doctorate in pharmacy from North Dakota State University in 2003, worked for over 10 years at Pelican Drug in Pelican Rapids as a pharmacist before taking a leave of absence due to health concerns, her obituary said. ||||| 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. ||||| Four years ago, 4-year-old Sophia Odens of Pelican Rapids, Minnesota, got very sick with a strain of E. coli called O157, which is hard on the kidneys. 
 
 Sophia's mom, Karen Odens, caught it too. Both of them were hospitalized. Doctors couldn't save Sophia. 
 
 On July 14, Karen Odens died at age 39 from prolonged complications of an E. coli infection she contracted while providing extensive care in 2014 for her daughter. 
 
 "She was so small that she couldn't fight off this bacteria. And she died," said Karen's father, Ed Welke. 
 
 Welke said that before Sophia's death, the daughter and mother were inseparable -- dressing up in costumes and playing with Sophia's favorite toys, My Little Pony. 
 
 "Everything was wonderful until that E. coli hit," Welke said. 
 
 Besides her grief, and post-traumatic stress disorder that followed, Karen had damanged kidneys from the E. coli. Her body had been through a lot. 
 
 "She was born with congenital defects. She was a little person. She was quite small herself, so she had trouble herself fighting off this E. coli 157," Welke said. 
 
 For the past eight months, Karen had been undergoing kidney dialysis in Detroit Lakes three days a week. 
 
 Finally, her body could take no more, and the deadly bacteria claimed her life as well, leaving a family grieving another tragic death, and urging others to guard themselves against E. coli O157. 
 
 "I urge everybody to wash your fruits and vegetables. Don't trust anything. Because when you buy that from the grocery store, you have to protect yourself," Welke said.
– Karen Odens suffered from grief and PTSD after her 4-year-old daughter, Sophia, died in 2014 from an E. coli infection, but she also had health issues of her own directly related to the same E. coli strain—and on July 14, she also passed away at age 39. "The last four years have been really pretty rough," Odens' father, Ed Welke, tells the Star Tribune, adding that mom and daughter were joined at the hip before Sophia's death. The Twin Cities Pioneer Press reports Sophia died in February 2014, just a few days after she contracted the E. coli from a still-unknown source. As for how Odens was infected, it's believed—but not confirmed—she actually got it from being in the hospital where Sophia was being treated before she died. "When the public thinks about E. coli, they often think about ground beef," a Minnesota Department of Health epidemiologist tells the Star Tribune. "But [person-to-person transmission] absolutely is a risk." Welke tells KARE 11 that his daughter had also been born with congenital defects, which made it even harder for her to fight off the E. coli O157 strain. Odens' obituary notes she took a leave of absence from her job as a pharmacist in Pelican Rapids due to her health issues, and she'd been undergoing kidney dialysis for most of this year. "I urge everybody to wash your fruits and vegetables," Welke tells KARE 11. "Don't trust anything. Because when you buy ... from the grocery store, you have to protect yourself."