On April 12, 2019, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said that E. coli in ground beef was to blame for the recent six-state outbreak that has sickened at least 109 people. Unfortunately, the supplier, distributor, or brand of the contaminated ground beef is still unknown to the CDC at this time.
The CDC estimates that for every person reported sick, there are five to 10 ill people who are ill but not accounted for.
As health officials work to trace the contaminated ground beef back to its source, they are warning that consumers should stop eating ground beef until their investigation can pinpoint the exact source of this E. coli poisoning outbreak.
E. coli Outbreak Timeline
March 2019 – The CDC was first notified of an E. coli (Escherichia coli) outbreak on March 28, 2019. Officials in Georgia and Kentucky linked 17 cases to the same strain of bacteria.
April 12, 2019 – The CDC announces that it has linked approximately 109 cases of E. coli infections back to ground beef. It has also discovered that reported illnesses come from states that share at least one border with another in this group: Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, Virginia, Tennessee and Georgia.
- Seventeen people have been hospitalized.
- No cases of hemolytic uremic syndrome, a type of kidney failure, have been reported.
- No deaths have been reported.
On a side note, this is not the first food poisoning outbreak to occur recently. In October 2018, the CDC announced a Nationwide recall of 6.5 million pounds of ground beef manufactured by JBS Tolleson. The ground beef affected in this recall, however, was tainted with salmonella. The CDC is still warning consumers to check any ground beef that they may have stored in their freezers with respect to the aforementioned recall.
Symptoms of E. coli Food Poisoning
People usually get sick from Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) 3–4 days after swallowing the germ. Symptoms of E. coli infection often include severe stomach cramps, diarrhea, and vomiting. The symptoms will generally last for 5-7 days unless complications such as a type of kidney failure called hemolytic uremic syndrome arise.
Questions About a Ground Beef Recall Lawsuit? Contact a Johnson//Becker Lawyer for a Free Case Review.
If you or a loved one has been sickened with E. coli by the ground beef recall, you may want to speak with the lawyers at Johnson//Becker. We are currently accepting new food poisoning lawsuits across the country, and you may be entitled to financial compensation.
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