Seventy-five infected as cases rise in US E.coli outbreak linked to McDonald’s
The US Food and Drug Administration said on Friday that 75 people had now been infected with the disease E.coli outbreak linked to McDonald’s quarter pounder burgers, as the number of people sickened by the bacterial disease continues to rise.
And the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warned Friday: “The actual number of sick people in this outbreak is likely much higher than the reported number, and the outbreak may not be limited to states with known illnesses.”
The update signaled an escalation in the food poisoning outbreak from the previous government report that the infections had so far killed one person, sickened 49 people and hospitalized 10 in the US. The outbreak has mainly affected the western and midwestern US after first emerging in Colorado.
On Thursday, fingers were pointed at fresh onions as a possible source of the deadly bacteria, and not at the burger meat as might have been expected.
The FDA said at the time that 22 people of those for whom information was available had been hospitalized. Two of them have developed hemolytic uremic syndrome, a serious condition that can cause kidney failure.
The company has removed the quarter pounder item from the menu at McDonald’s locations in Colorado, Kansas, Utah and Wyoming and in parts of Idaho, Iowa, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico and Oklahoma. These account for a fifth of the 14,000 American restaurants. Shares of the world’s largest hamburger chain fell 2% on Friday morning.
The CDC also said in its warning: “This is because many people recover without medical care and are not tested for E. coli. In addition, recent illnesses may not yet be reported because it typically takes three to four weeks to determine whether a sick person is part of an outbreak.”
Previous outbreaks of the bacterial disease have hampered sales at major fast-food restaurants as customers avoid the affected chains.
Yum Brands said Thursday it was removing fresh onions from menus “out of an abundance of caution” at some of its KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell chains.
Restaurant Brands International, the parent company of McDonald’s rival Burger King, removed onions from the menu at at least one outlet in Colorado, the state at the center of the McDonald’s outbreak.
“The business community has told us that we can’t use onions for the foreseeable future,” Maria Gonzales, the manager on duty at a Burger King in Longmont, Colorado, said Wednesday. “They are no longer on our menu.”
Illnesses due to the McDonald’s items began on dates ranging from September 27 to October 10.
Reuters contributed to the reporting