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The deadly E.Coli outbreak linked to McDonald’s Quarter Pounder hamburgers grew worse with an additional 26 people falling sick — raising the total to 75, federal health officials said Friday
The infections had killed one person in Colorado, and hospitalized 10 across the West and Midwest, the CDC had said on Tuesday.
The new cases include 12 additional hospitalizations and expanded the outbreak to three new states, according to the agency, which had previously said it expected to “see more cases.”
No additional deaths have been reported beyond the one confirmed death in this growing outbreak linked to slivered onions.
McDonald’s has yanked Quarter Pounders from its menus in more than a dozen states.
The nation’s largest fast-food chain declined to comment on the growing number of infections beyond what it said on Oct. 22 when it yanked Quarter Pounders in about 20% of its restaurants in the affected states.
On Thursday, a McDonald’s supplier – Taylor Farms – recalled yellow onions produced in a Colorado plant in response to the deadly outbreak. Shortly thereafter, Yum Brands said it would be removing fresh onions from its meals at certain Taco Bell, Pizza Hut and KFC restaurants out of an “abundance of caution.”
The most recent illness in the E.Coli outbreak started on Oct. 10, the CDC said. But the outbreak dates back to Sept. 27, according to federal agencies.
At 26 infections, Colorado has had the most cases.
A Colorado man has filed what appears to be the first lawsuit against McDonald’s over the outbreak. Eric Stelly alleged in a court filing submitted in Cook County, Ill. that he purchased food from a Greeley, Col., McDonald’s franchise on Oct. 4. Two days later, he said he began experiencing gastrointestinal symptoms including nausea, stomach cramps and bloody stools.
On Oct. 8, he rushed to the emergency room, where medical staff confirmed through tests that he was poisoned with E. coli, according to his attorney.
