ZQuiet.com

By Jory Lange

The CDC reports that 196 people have been infected with the same outbreak strain of E. coli O103. That’s 19 more people since the last update, on April 26th.  

Escherichia coli
Image/National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)

10 states have been affected by this E. coli outbreak: Kentucky (69 confirmed cases); Tennessee (55 confirmed cases); Georgia (49 confirmed cases); Ohio (12 confirmed cases); Florida (5 confirmed cases); Virginia (2 confirmed cases); Illinois (1 confirmed case); Indiana (1 confirmed case), Minnesota (1 confirmed case); and Mississippi (1 confirmed case).  Illnesses began between March 1st and April 19th.  

At least 28 people have been hospitalized.  Two people have developed hemolytic uremic syndrome, a severe form of acute kidney failure.

On March 28th, public health officials in Kentucky and Georgia notified the CDC of this E. coli outbreak. The CDC reports that ground beef is the likely source of this outbreak. Two companies have recalled raw ground beef products due concerns about possible E. coli contamination.  On April 23rd, K2D Foods recalled 113,424 pounds of raw ground beef.  On April 24th, Grant Park Packing in Franklin Park, Illinois recalled 53,200 pounds of raw ground beef.  These raw ground beef products were sold to restaurants and institutions.

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The CDC reports that, “USDA-FSIS and state regulatory officials continue to collect products for testing and continue their traceback investigations to determine the source of ground beef supplied to grocery stores and restaurants where ill people ate. At this time, no common supplier, distributor, or brand of ground beef has been identified that could account for the whole outbreak.”