Federal officials have updated the number of patients in an outbreak of E. coli O157:H7 infections traced to slivered onions on McDonald’s Quarter Pounder hamburgers. The patient count now stands at 104.
The Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are continuing to investigate the outbreak. Of 98 patients interviewed, 34 have been hospitalized. One person has died.
Four patients have developed hemolytic uremic syndrome, which can cause kidney failure. The sick people are spread across 14 states. McDonald’s locations in all 14 states received slivered onions from a Taylor Farms facility in Colorado.
There are likely many more sick people that are on the confirmed patient list. The CDC reports that for every confirmed patient infected with E. Coli O157:H7 there are 26 who are not confirmed.
This is because some people do not seek medical attention and others are not specifically tested for E. coli. Of 81 people interviewed about the food that ate before becoming ill, 80 reported eating at McDonald’s.
Of 75 people who could remember what menu item they ate at McDonald’s, 63 reported a menu item containing fresh slivered onions. Investigators with the FDA have focused on the Taylor Farms facility in Colorado and an onion grower in Washington state. The agency reports that its investigation into the two locations has been completed but has not reported much in the way of details.
The FDA has not reported what onion grower was investi.
