Oct 30 (Reuters) - The U.S. Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention said on Wednesday that the number of infected
people from the E.coli outbreak linked to McDonald's
Quarter Pounder hamburgers has increased to 90 from 75.
The outbreak was first reported on Oct. 22 and on Wednesday,
CDC said 27 persons have been hospitalized due to the illness,
which has already killed one person.
Two of them developed hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), a
serious condition that can cause kidney failure, as of Oct. 24.
The E. coli O157:H7 strain that led to the McDonald's
outbreak is said to cause "very serious disease," especially for
the elderly, children and people who are immunocompromised.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration noted that
symptoms begin anywhere from a few days after consuming
contaminated food or up to nine days later.
As of Oct. 30, the outbreak has affected Colorado, Kansas,
Utah, Wyoming, Iowa, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico,
Oregon, Wisconsin, Washington and Michigan.
Colorado has reported the highest infections with 29 people
who have fallen sick, while Montana reported 17 infections.
Initial findings by McDonald's and the FDA showed the
outbreak was likely a result of the slivered onions used in the
Quarter Pounder. The FDA and the company confirmed that Taylor
Farms was the supplier for the affected locations.
Taylor Farms has recalled several batches of yellow
onions produced in a Colorado facility, according to a recall
memo on Wednesday by US Foods ( USFD ), one of the largest U.S.
suppliers of food service operations.
The company along with the Colorado Department of
Agriculture also ruled out the possibility of beef patties being
a source of the outbreak.
McDonald's said that it would resume selling Quarter
Pounders burgers this week after it temporarily took the item
off the menu in a fifth of its 14,000 U.S. restaurants that were
impacted.
On Tuesday, company executives brushed off any potential
sales hit from the outbreak with CEO Chris Kempczinski
apologizing to customers and adding that he was "confident in
the safety of eating at McDonald's."