McDonald's E. Illnesses linked to coli outbreak rise to 75, CDC says

At least 75 people have been sickened after eating a McDonald's quarter pounder that contained a deadly E. coli strains associated with The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday.

Between 49 and 75 cases were reported in 13 states on Tuesday. 22 people, from 10, were hospitalized. The CDC said on Tuesday that one person had died and that no new deaths had been reported on Friday.

The increase in people getting sick, which consists of older cases, was expected, as it can take weeks for investigators to connect the illnesses. In a food poisoning outbreak. The most recent case was October 10.

“I think there will definitely be more illnesses reported,” said Matt Wise, chief of the CDC's Outbreak Response and Prevention Branch.

Those who became ill ranged in age from 13 to 88. Most are men. According to the CDC, two people, a teenager and an adult, were hospitalized with a serious kidney condition called hemolytic uremic syndrome, which can lead to permanent kidney failure or even death.

Public health officials interviewed 42 people who became ill. All said they ate at McDonald's before they got sick. Most, the CDC said in a statement, “specifically referred to eating quarter-pounder hamburgers.”

The number of cases is probably higher than reported, because E. Most people with coli infections recover on their own and are not tested for the bacteria.

E. coli symptoms — which include vomiting, diarrhea and a fever of at least 102 degrees — usually begin three to four days after eating the contaminated food.

The Food and Drug Administration and the CDC have zeroed in on slivered onions served on hamburgers as a possible source of contamination, Health officials, however, have not ruled out the beef patties used for the Quarter Pounder.

On Thursday, McDonald's confirmed that California-based food producer Taylor Farms supplied the onions used in the contaminated quarter pounder.

Taylor Farms on Wednesday issued a recall of four raw onion products because of “possible E. coli contamination.” Several Colorado restaurant chains, including Taco Bell, Burger King, KFC, Pizza Hut and Illegal Pit's, said they have removed onions from their menus after numerous recalls.

The FDA said restaurant chains that received the recalled onions have been notified directly. There have been no signs of illness linked to those restaurants, the CDC said.

“At this point, we don't see anything reported in sick people that suggests anything is going on outside of the quarter pounder,” Wise said.

McDonald's Quarter Pounder contains ingredients not found on other menu items: beef patties specially made for the quarter pounder, as well as slivered onions. The chain's classic hamburgers and other sandwiches use rehydrated onions.

That's why investigators zeroed in on these specific ingredients.

McDonald's has pulled the sleeved onions and quarter pounder patties in question from its restaurants in at least 12 states: Colorado, Kansas, Utah, Wyoming, Idaho, Iowa, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico and Oklahoma. Because these products have been removed, the CDC says the risk to the public is now low.

It is not yet clear if Taylor Farms drove the slivered onions directly to the McDonald's location or if they arrived through a distributor. Taylor Farms did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

A McDonald's spokeswoman said the restaurant chain supplies onions directly through Taylor Farms.

McDonald's is being sued by two people who say they got sick after eating there.

The plaintiffs in the two lawsuits are both represented by Ron Simon, managing partner of Ron Simon & Associates, a food safety law firm. Simon told NBC News on Thursday that he represents a total of 15 people who say they have been sickened by the outbreak.

correction (Oct. 25, 2024, 1:50): Due to an editing error, an earlier version of this article incorrectly stated the number of previous hospitalizations. It was 10, not 20.