The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced on Wednesday that there are now 90 E. coli illnesses connected to McDonald’s Quarter Pounders, up from 75 cases on Friday.
The CDC stated that the “likely source” of the outbreak is the slivered onions used on the burgers.
According to a McDonald’s representative, by the time the outbreak was publicized on October 22, all Quarter Pounders in the impacted states had been removed from the establishments.
Any additional danger to the public is “very low,” according to the CDC. The last instance occurred on October 16.
After testing revealed no E. coli evidence, Colorado Agriculture Department officials on Sunday ruled out the Quarter Pounders’ beef patties as the cause of the illness.
According to the CDC, 27 people have been hospitalized and one person has died. Hemolytic uremic syndrome is a rare kidney disease that affected at least two persons.
According to a Grand Junction, Colorado, family, their 15-year-old daughter is among those who have the kidney disease, NBC News said.
The high school freshman’s first symptoms, which included fever and stomach ache, appeared a few days after she repeatedly ordered a Quarter Pounder at her neighborhood McDonald’s. She had blood in her feces and vomited.
According to her relatives, she has now been admitted to the hospital due to renal impairment and has had many dialysis sessions.
The 90 instances that have been recorded thus far are probably far from the actual number of illnesses connected to the Quarter Pounders. The majority of patients with E. coli infections heal on their own and are never tested for the pathogen.
Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, Montana, Oregon, Utah, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming are among the thirteen states where instances have been documented.
Additionally, according to the Food and Drug Administration, the most likely source of contamination is the sliced onions that were provided by food manufacturer Taylor Farms Colorado Springs.
The FDA announced Wednesday that it is investigating a “onion grower of interest” headquartered in Washington state in addition to inspecting a Taylor Farms processing facility in Colorado.
McDonald’s claims that Taylor Farms supplied the onions to 900 locations in 12 states.
On Friday, McDonald’s said that it will no longer get onions from the firm going forward. This week, the impacted locations will begin serving the Quarter Pounder sans onions.
Out of extreme caution, other Colorado restaurant brands, such as Taco Bell, Burger King, KFC, Pizza Hut, and Illegal Pete’s, took onions off their menus. There are no indications that eating at such places has caused anyone to contract E. coli.
