A month ago, Clarissa DeBock fell ill with abdominal cramps, diarrhoea and nausea — but it wasn’t the usual stomach bug. She had gone to lunch five days earlier with her fiancé at their local McDonald’s in North Platte, Nebraska. The Quarter Pounder she ate that day looked and tasted normal, she said.
But gastrointestinal symptoms landed DeBock in the emergency room on Sept. 25, and she tested positive for a strain of E. coli called O157:H7 — the one connected to the outbreak the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention announced Tuesday .
“I could just tell that something was off by the cramps, just because they were so bad,” she said. “You get cramps with the flu and stuff, but it was different.” The CDC’s investigation into the E.
coli outbreak linked to Quarter Pounders has so far identified 49 cases across 10 states from September 27 to October 11. Ten people were hospitalised, and one died. DeBock, 33, a receptionist at a surgical centre, attributes her illness to the McDonald’s meal.
“It’s just scary, I guess, just because you trust them as a fast-food place,” she said. “You’re putting your trust in them to provide safe food.” DeBock sued McDonald’s on Thursday, seeking compensation for lost wages, medical bills and physical and emotional suffering.
It’s the second lawsuit connected to the outbreak — a Colorado man sued on Wednesday. A McDonald’s spokesperson said Wednesday that slivered onions served on the Quarter Pounders .
