A 10-state E. coli outbreak linked to McDonald’s Quarter Pounder hamburgers has killed one person in Colorado and sickened 27 others in the state, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Tuesday.
The CDC reported 49 people have gotten sick and 10 needed hospital care, including one child. All of those who got sick reported eating at McDonald’s, and “most” said they had Quarter Pounders, the health agency said.
The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment said the person who died was “older” and had underlying health conditions.
People over 65 and children younger than five are at higher risk of severe illness from E. coli, a type of bacteria which causes vomiting, severe stomach cramps and diarrhea, often with blood. Most people recover without treatment, but some develop severe dehydration or kidney damage.
In addition to Colorado, McDonald’s diners also were sickened by E. Coli in Oregon, Montana, Utah, Wyoming, Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa, Missouri and Wisconsin.
The state health department said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration believes “fresh-slivered onions” used on Quarter Pounders — and not other McDonald’s menu items — may be the culprit, though the U.S. Department of Agriculture is still investigating whether beef patties could be the source of the outbreak.
McDonalds’s, in a statement posted to the fast-food chain’s corporate website, said “a subset of illnesses may be linked to slivered onions used in the Quarter Pounder and sourced by a single supplier that serves three distribution centers.”
In a statement, Cesar Piña, McDonald’s chief supply chain officer for North America, said the company has gotten rid of onions from the supplier to the affected areas, and temporarily took the Quarter Pounder off the menu in Colorado and the other states where customers got sick, in addition to parts of New Mexico and Idaho.
The company is working with the CDC to safely reintroduce all items, he said.
“We are working in close partnership with our suppliers to replenish supply for the Quarter Pounder in the coming weeks (timing will vary by local market),” he said in a statement. “In the meantime, all other menu items, including other beef products (including the cheeseburger, hamburger, Big Mac, McDouble and the double cheeseburger) are unaffected and available.”
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The type of bacteria implicated in this outbreak, E. coli O157:H7, causes about 74,000 infections in the U.S. each year, leading to more than 2,000 hospitalizations and 61 deaths. Infections are especially dangerous for children younger than 5 and can cause acute kidney failure.
The state health department asked people experiencing symptoms of E. coli who had recently eaten at McDonald’s to call a doctor and their local public health department. Symptoms typically appear three to four days after eating contaminated food, but can take up to 10 days to develop.
If you think you could have E. coli or another foodborne illness, wash your hands frequently to avoid passing the infection to others, and don’t prepare food for anyone else, the state health department said in a news release.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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