Oregon reports E. coli case tied to McDonald's Quarter Pounder amid outbreak
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – Health officials are continuing to investigate a deadly E. coli outbreak linked to McDonald's Quarter Pounders -- including one case in Oregon -- after at least 49 people were sickened across the United States.
After the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention announced the outbreak on Tuesday, Multnomah County Health Department held a press conference Wednesday afternoon, saying the county is working with state health officials amid the investigation.
“As of yesterday, the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, the CDC, along with the Food and Drug Administration, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the food safety inspection section have started investigating an outbreak of a strain of Shiga toxin-producing E. coli bacteria, called O157:H7, that is known to cause foodborne illness," Tri-County Health Officer Dr. Richard Bruno explained.
“We do not have any cases in Multnomah County we’re aware of right now,” Bruno said, noting the health department is unsure where the Oregon case originated. “We are working with our partners at Oregon Health Authority, who’s also monitoring the situation very closely and working closely with the CDC."
The E. coli outbreak has been linked to 49 people in 10 states, leading to at least 10 hospitalizations and one death in Colorado.
The CDC is still investigating which part of the Quarter Pounder may have been contaminated, including potentially contaminated beef patties or fresh slivered onions.
Some McDonald’s locations in other states have stopped serving Quarter Pounders as officials investigate the outbreak, but Bruno said they are unaware of any franchises in Multnomah County that have pulled the menu item.
E. coli is a bacteria found in the intestines of animals and humans; however, the O157:H7 strain is known to cause fevers, abdominal pain, vomiting, bloody diarrhea, headaches, or sometimes life-threatening complications impacting the blood vessels in the kidneys.
This E. coli strain can contaminate meat during slaughter and processing or can be found in the runoff from manure in fields, which contaminates water sources and crops.
The health director warned, “Antibiotics are sometimes prescribed to treat an E. coli infection; however, more recent outbreaks in these concentrated animal feeding operations -- or CAFOs, where over 700 cows are contained for slaughter and often given antibiotics to promote growth -- have been driving antibiotic resistance in these bacteria and leading to greater public health concern."
“Oftentimes when bacterial strains become antibiotic resistant, that means that the first line of antibiotics just don’t work anymore and we have to resort to powerful, sometimes antibiotics that have more side effects, in order to treat people who have these antibiotic-resistant strains," he added.
The Multnomah County Health Department recommends anyone who has become ill after eating a Quarter Pounder in the last month to report their illness to their health care provider.
As reported by the Associated Press Wednesday, a preliminary investigation by the FDA suggested that the raw onions served on Quarter Pounders were a likely source of the contamination.
According to AP, McDonald’s said it worked closely with federal food safety regulators since late last week, when it was alerted to the potential outbreak.