Nationally known E. coli lawyer Ron Simon has seen more than his share of petting-zoo and fairground tragedies. From the deadly E. coli outbreak at the San Diego County Fair to multiple state-fair petting zoo cases around the country, his firm has represented families whose children went from “fun day at the fair” to ICU and dialysis in a matter of days.
In past coverage of these outbreaks, Simon has stressed that these illnesses are not freak accidents. In one interview after the San Diego County Fair outbreak, he said his investigation showed the illnesses were “entirely preventable.” And, writing about fair petting-zoo outbreaks, he’s been quoted explaining that “animals are a known risk factor,” and that simple, well-known protocols—clear warnings, well-placed handwashing stations, and banning food and drink in animal areas—are “vital (and often ignored) protocols.”
In light of yet another E. coli outbreak tied to animal contact, we sat down for a policy-focused conversation with Simon. Below is a summarized, issue-oriented “interview” that distills the advice he has consistently given to state fairs, petting zoos, and animal-contact attractions across the country.
Q: We keep seeing E. coli outbreaks at fairs and petting zoos. From your vantage point, why do they keep happening?
Simon’s first point is blunt: nothing about these outbreaks is surprising anymore. We have decades of documentation showing that animal-contact exhibits—especially those involving cattle, goats, sheep, and other ruminants—pose a known risk for Shiga toxin–producing E. coli (STEC) infections in children. Outbreaks at places like the North Carolina State Fair, the San Diego County Fair, and other fairs and petting zoos have all followed the same basic pattern: young children, animal contact, invisible fecal contamination in the environment, and inadequate controls.
From his perspective, there are three recurring themes:
- Foreseeability is undeniable.
Animals shed E. coli in their feces even when they look perfectly healthy. Those organisms contaminate barn dust, bedding, railings, walkways, and clothing. Kids then touch animals, touch contaminated surfaces, and then touch their mouths. For state fairs and zoos, it is no longer credible to claim that these risks were unknown or unforeseeable. - Design and hygiene are often an afterthought.
Many animal exhibits are designed for convenience and entertainment, not biosecurity. Narrow aisles, dirt or straw floors, kids sitting on bales or the ground, and food vendors just outside the barn door create perfect conditions for contamination and hand-to-mouth transfer. - We still rely too much on “common sense.”
Simon notes that operators sometimes assume parents will “just use common sense” and keep kids from eating in animal areas or will automatically wash their hands. But small children don’t read warning signs, and stressed, distracted parents juggle strollers, snacks, siblings, and cameras. Risk control has to be built into the environment, not left to chance.
Q: If you could give state fairs and zoos a short list of operational priorities, what would it be?
Simon’s advice can be boiled down to this: engineer safety into the experience. He emphasizes that the best defenses are physical, structural, and procedural—not just legal fine print.
1. Make real handwashing non-negotiable
First, he argues that handwashing must be more than a token sink somewhere near the barn. Best practice means:
- Multiple stations with running water, soap, and paper towels.
- Stations located at the exit of every animal-contact area and along the natural foot-traffic flow.
- Clear expectations that guests wash before leaving—reinforced by staff and signage.
Simon is adamant that alcohol hand sanitizer is not an adequate substitute for washing in the context of E. coli O157:H7 and other STEC; it doesn’t reliably remove or inactivate fecal contamination on small, visibly soiled hands.
2. Separate animals from food—physically, not just with signs
He points to outbreak investigations where food stands, picnic tables, or concession areas sit just feet away from barns or show pens. Dust and manure are tracked from the barns straight into eating areas on shoes, stroller wheels, and clothing.
His advice:
- No food or drink inside animal areas. Period—no “snack corners,” no sippy cups, no ice cream cones.
- Physical barriers and distance between barns and any place where food is sold or consumed.
- Dedicated, clearly marked “clean zones” for eating, distinct from animal areas.
3. Redesign exhibit flow with contamination in mind
Simon encourages fairs to treat barns the way food plants treat raw-product rooms: assume everything is contaminated and design traffic flow accordingly.
That means:
- One-way traffic through animal-contact areas, with a dedicated exit that always routes visitors past handwashing.
- Paved or washable surfaces instead of bare dirt where feasible; manure-soaked dirt is almost impossible to sanitize.
- Barriers that keep animals back from the rail, so kids aren’t leaning into heavily contaminated bedding.
- Keeping strollers, wagons, and high-chairs out of the highest-risk areas so wheels don’t become rolling vectors of manure.
4. Invest in real environmental cleaning, not just cosmetic tidying
Simon stresses that “clean-looking” is not the same as clean. From outbreak records, it’s clear that barns can look tidy and still be microbiologically dangerous.
He advocates for:
- Written cleaning protocols for manure removal, bedding changes, and surface disinfection.
- High-touch surfaces (gates, rails, benches) on a strict cleaning schedule throughout the day, not just at closing time.
- Closing and deep-cleaning exhibits during multi-week fairs, instead of letting contamination accumulate.
5. Train staff like they actually manage a health-care environment
He notes that seasonal workers are often teenagers or part-time hires with little training. Yet they are, in practice, frontline public-health workers.
Simon recommends that operators:
- Provide mandatory training on zoonotic pathogens, with plain-language explanations of how feces → hands → mouths leads to HUS and kidney failure in kids.
- Give staff simple scripts: “Please wash your hands before you leave,” “No food or drink in the animal area,” and “We can’t allow strollers inside this pen for safety reasons.”
- Empower workers to close an exhibit temporarily if conditions become unsanitary or if an animal is visibly ill.
Q: You’ve said before that “animals are a known risk factor.” What does that mean for legal responsibility?
In a Food Poisoning News discussion of the 2019 San Diego County Fair and Minnesota state fair outbreaks, Simon is quoted as saying: “animals are a known risk factor, and it is difficult to control hand-to-mouth contact with small children who are allowed to enter a petting zoo environment,” and that careful warnings, well-placed handwashing stations, and prohibitions on food and water in these locations are “vital (and often ignored) protocols.”
From a legal perspective, he explains, that has several implications:
- The danger is no longer “hidden.”
Courts and health authorities have recognized for years that ruminant animals at fairs can transmit E. coli to children. That history makes it much harder for operators to claim they didn’t know their exhibits might cause serious illness. - National guidelines exist—and can become the de facto standard of care.
CDC and NASPHV (National Association of State Public Health Veterinarians) publish detailed guidelines for managing animal-contact exhibits. When a fair ignores those guidelines—no handwashing, food in barns, poor barriers—that gap can be powerful evidence of negligence. - “We warned people” is not a complete defense.
Simon emphasizes that tiny, text-heavy warning signs don’t replace physical controls. You cannot reasonably expect a four-year-old, or their overwhelmed parent, to eliminate the risk by reading fine print. If the design invites kids to sit on manure-covered straw with an ice cream cone in hand, that’s an operator choice, not a parental failure. - “Entirely preventable” is not rhetoric— it’s based on concrete, fixable failures.
In the San Diego County Fair outbreak, Simon publicly stated that the illnesses were entirely preventable, based on what investigators learned about conditions and controls. He sees the same themes in case after case: basic, inexpensive measures—better exhibit design, handwashing, and food separation—could have dramatically reduced or eliminated the risk.
Q: What should a fair or zoo do the moment there’s a hint of an outbreak?
Simon’s advice here is unambiguous: act early, act aggressively, and act transparently.
- Shut down the likely exposure area immediately.
Don’t wait for lab confirmation. If multiple children with matching symptoms visited the same petting zoo or barn, close it. Continuing operations after credible red flags significantly increases both health risk and legal exposure. - Bring in public-health partners right away.
Cooperate with local and state health departments on environmental sampling, animal testing, and patron notification. Attempts to “handle it quietly” almost always backfire once the outbreak becomes public. - Notify families proactively.
Where possible, communicate clearly with recent visitors—through ticketing records, media, and website notices—about what symptoms to watch for and when to seek medical care. Early recognition of E. coli and HUS can be lifesaving. - Preserve evidence, don’t destroy it.
Simon notes that well-intentioned but misguided “deep clean” efforts before investigators can sample the environment can look like evidence spoliation. Operators should document conditions, preserve records, and coordinate with investigators before major changes.
Q: Some critics say the solution is to eliminate petting zoos entirely. Do you agree?
Simon is careful here. He recognizes that animal-contact exhibits have real educational and emotional value. They connect urban children to agriculture, foster empathy for animals, and support local producers.
His position is less about abolishing petting zoos and more about dragging their safety standards into the 21st century:
- If you can’t afford proper handwashing stations, exhibit design, and staff training, you can’t afford to run a petting zoo.
- If your business model depends on ignoring CDC guidelines and treating outbreaks as “bad luck,” then yes—maybe you shouldn’t be in the animal-contact business.
He contrasts those operations with fairs and zoos that invest heavily in biosecurity, staff education, and visitor hygiene. Those venues, he notes, are proof that you can have hands-on animal experiences without routinely sending children to the hospital.
Q: What message would you give directly to fair boards, zoo directors, and exhibit operators?
Simon’s core message is simple:
If you invite children into an environment where E. coli is known to exist, you also assume the responsibility to control that risk.
Translated into concrete obligations, that means:
- Know the science. Understand how STEC, Salmonella, and other pathogens spread from animal feces to children. You can’t manage what you don’t understand.
- Follow established guidelines. Treat CDC/NASPHV recommendations as minimum requirements, not aspirational goals.
- Invest in prevention as if your own child were visiting. Would you let your own toddler crawl in that barn, eat at that picnic table, or drink from that sippy cup after petting those animals? If the honest answer is no, you’ve just identified a safety problem.
- Remember that the victims are almost always very young children. These are kids who went to the fair for cotton candy and pony rides—not for dialysis and blood transfusions. Keeping that reality front-and-center changes how you think about “acceptable risk.”
Q: Any closing thoughts for parents who still want to take their kids to see the animals?
Finally, Simon emphasizes that the burden shouldn’t rest on parents alone—but there are practical steps families can take:
- Choose fairs and zoos that clearly prioritize hygiene: visible handwashing stations, staff reminding guests to wash, and no food in barns.
- Treat handwashing after animal contact as absolutely mandatory.
- Avoid taking infants, immunocompromised children, or siblings with recent GI illness into high-risk areas.
- Keep snacks, bottles, and pacifiers out of barns and away from animal pens entirely.
But he circles back to the same point: parents can’t fix systemic design failures. Only fair boards, zoo management, and regulators can do that. Until they do, he warns, we should unfortunately expect to see “yet another” headline about a petting-zoo E. coli outbreak—and another group of families whose lives are altered forever because basic, well-known protections were simply not put in place.
