Finistère: investigation opened after death of 2-year-old girl, mother blames Quimper pizzeria for E. coli infection

Death at Brest hospital

A girl aged 2 years and 8 months died in the night of 31 July to 1 August 2026 at the Brest hospital, where she had been hospitalised for several days. Most sources give her age as 2 years and 8 months; BFMTV describes her as 'two and a half'. The family lives in Plogonnec, a commune near Quimper in the Finistère department of Brittany. The child began feeling unwell on 25 July, the same day the family ate at a pizzeria in Quimper, according to the mother. She was buried on 7 August in Plogonnec.

Mother's public campaign

The mother, named Arielle, took to TikTok to document her daughter's hospitalisation and to announce the death on 1 August. In a video she said, through tears, that the child had died from E. coli bacteria contracted after the restaurant meal. She had already posted an alert on 29 July about a possible food poisoning. On 6 August she launched a call for witnesses on TikTok and in a Facebook group for the city of Quimper, seeking 'persons having eaten in a pizzeria situated in Quimper on 25 July, and who would have subsequently encountered health problems, notably bad digestion, abdominal pains or diarrhoea'. The Facebook post has since been deleted. On 12 August she posted a thank-you video to supporters.

Investigation and restaurant tests

The Quimper prosecutor's office was seized on 6 August following a report from the Finistère departmental directorate for the protection of populations. Prosecutor Cécile Flamet stated on Thursday 13 August that analyses carried out in the restaurant frequented by the family 'have not demonstrated the presence of a bacteria capable of being at the origin of the death of the little girl'. She indicated that investigations will continue. BFMTV, citing a police source, reported that the establishment had been inspected by prefecture services and that no hygiene-rule violations were found. The investigation, formally opened for 'research into the causes of death', must establish whether a bacteria is at the origin of the child's death.

E. coli and its risks

Escherichia coli is a common bacterium in the human digestive tract. Most strains are harmless, but some can cause serious food poisoning, transmitted primarily through contaminated foods such as raw or undercooked ground meat, unpasteurised raw milk, raw vegetables and sprouted seeds, according to the World Health Organization. Symptoms include abdominal cramps, diarrhoea, bloody colitis, sometimes accompanied by fever and vomiting. The incubation period ranges from 3 to 8 days, with a median of 3 to 4 days. Most patients recover within 10 days, but the infection can progress to a potentially fatal form, haemolytic-uremic syndrome (HUS), particularly in children, fragile individuals and the elderly. The incidence remains low, at fewer than one case per 100,000 inhabitants, according to the Saint-Luc university clinics in Brussels.