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CDC Updated Information: E. coli Cases in Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, New York and Ohio are Part of E. coli Outbreak Linked to Ground Beef

By Pritzker | Ruohonen

The multistate E. coli outbreak that originally affected residents of Michigan and Ohio has now spread to four more states.  According to the CDC, there have been 45 confirmed cases linked to this outbreak, 20 in Michigan and 21 in Ohio, which now includes one case in each of the following states: Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, and New York.  In all instances, illness began between May 27 and June 24.

According to the CDC,

Twenty-three persons have been hospitalized. One patient developed a type of kidney failure called hemolytic-uremic syndrome (HUS). No deaths have been reported. Twenty-six (58%) patients are female. Patients range in age from 4 to 78 years with a median age of 19 years.

Ground beef samples from several patients were found to match the outbreak strain of E. coli. The ground beef was connected to Kroger retail stores in Michigan and Ohio, prompting Kroger to recall ground beef sold at their Michigan and Ohio stores. On June 30, Nebraska Beef, Ltd. (Kroger’s supplier) recalled half a million pounds of ground beef. One July 3, the Nebraska Beef recall was expanded to include 5.3 million pounds of beef products.

Full post as published by Food Poisoning Law Blog on July 17, 2008 (boomark / email).