A man in Colorado has died and dozens are ill after catching E coli from a McDonald’s burger, health officials announced.
The CDC said Tuesday that 49 people in 10 states have been sickened from the same strain of E coli, a deadly bacteria that affects nearly 100,000 Americans a year and kills up to one in five.
All affected patients had eaten at McDonald’s before getting sick, and most specifically mentioned ordering the chain’s popular Quarter Pounder.
The specific contaminated ingredient has not been identified, but investigators are focusing on the slivered onions and the beef patty, which have been pulled from stores in the affected states.
A child has also been hospitalized with hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), an infection that leads to kidney damage in up to one in seven E coli patients.
The CDC announced that 49 people in 10 states have been sickened with E coli after eating at McDonald’s in 10 states. Most ate a Quarter Pounder (pictured here)
Quarter Pounder beef patties are only used on the chain’s Quarter Pounder, while the onions ‘are primarily used on Quarter Pounder hamburgers and not other menu items,’ the CDC said.
No additional details have been released about the Colorado man or the child. The man was described as ‘older.’
The first reported illness happened on September 29, with the last reported illness on October 11, according to the CDC. The agency said it usually takes three to four weeks to determine if a sick person is part of an outbreak.
The CDC reported that most people Colorado (27) or Nebraska (9). Additionally, people in Utah, Wyoming, Kansas, Missouri, Iowa, Wisconsin, Montana and Oregon have all reported cases.
E. coli are bacteria typically found in the intestines of animals such as cattle, goats, sheep, and deer. While most are harmless, some can cause a host of gastrointestinal symptoms, including stomach cramps, bloody diarrhea, and vomiting.
The bacteria can be found in food and water contaminated by feces from infected animals.
E coli sickens about 95,000 Americans per year and kills around 17 to 20 percent.
Symptoms include diarrhea, a fever above 102 F, vomiting, and signs of dehydration like not peeing or dry mouth, the CDC said.
The patients in the current outbreak were infected with strain O157:H7, the most common strain in humans that has been shown to cause severe intestinal infections.
The CDC said that anyone who has severe E coli symptoms after eating a Quarter Pounder at McDonald’s should seek medical help and tell the provider what they ate.
HUS, which caused the child to be hospitalized, affects about 200 to 300 Americans per year and kills less than one in 20 of those.
Symptoms include bloody diarrhea, stomach cramps, fever, and vomiting. Symptoms usually start three to four days after swallowing the bacteria, and most people recover without treatment after five to seven days.
McDonald’s about 6million burgers per day in the US, and around 110,000 are Quarter Pounders.
