McDonald’s E. Coli cases confirmed in nine Colorado counties, including El Paso and Teller
COLORADO (KRDO) - The Colorado Department of Public Health Department confirmed that cases of E. coli, which are tied to McDonald's Quarter Pounders, are in El Paso, Teller and Chaffee counties, among others.
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention say that an E. coli outbreak has infected 26 people, and killed one person, in Colorado. The infections apparently trace back to patients eating quarter pounders from McDonald's.
Mesa County Health Officials have also confirmed that the death from the E. coli outbreak was one of their residents. KRDO13 learned the person who passed was in their 80's and had existing medical conditions.
In addition to El Paso, Teller and Chaffee counties, State Health officials are also investigating E. coli cases in Arapahoe, Gunnison, Larimer, Mesa, Routt and Weld counties.
Disease experts with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) say they were alerted to the outbreak in the second week of October.
"Every person diagnosed with this type of E. coli is interviewed by either local or state public health to learn about their illness, their symptoms and their exposures." explained Rachel Jervis, an epidemiologist with CDPHE.
Jervis adds that samples taken from sick patients for E. coli are then sent from a laboratory to the State' public health lab, where they then do a 'DNA fingerprint' of the bacteria and contents of that sample.
"So it was really having the DNA fingerprint data [that was] telling us that these cases were highly, highly related... or their bacteria was highly related, that helped us confirm that this, in fact, was an outbreak." explained Jervis.
Although it's unclear which McDonalds locations the sick residents may have eaten at, the CDPHE says that just because a case is confirmed to be in a county, it doesn't necessarily mean that the person ate at a McDonald's in that same county.
The outbreak is larger than just Colorado, featuring 49 total cases across 10 states. The state with the most cases after Colorado, is Nebraska with nine. That's where two patients who fell ill are now being represented by Bill Marler, a veteran food safety attorney based in Seattle, Washington, who has led the charge in massive lawsuits over food contamination.
Most notably, Marler successfully achieved a settlement of over $50 million in 1993 after the restaurant Chain Jack in the Box, left several hundred people in Washington and Idaho with E. coli, tied to beef patties used in the chain's burgers.
Marler also represented citizens in a lawsuit in in 2011, when 147 people across 28 states got Listeria from melons that were sold out of Rocky Ford, that ended up killing 33 people in the process. The food-borne illness stemming from Jensen Farms Rocky Ford cantaloupes.
He says in this case, his litigation will likely help sort out what exactly went wrong, and who is at fault: McDonalds, or the supplier of the slivered onions, who provides products to three distribution centers for McDonalds, according to a spokesperson.
"If it is found that the onion supplier, supplied [McDonalds] with contaminated onions... they can say, Yes, it's my fault I served you the hamburger, but the onion supplier needs to pay for it." explained Marler.
He emphasizes the severity of an E. coli outbreak, no matter how big or small.
"You got ten people hospitalized. You have a death. You have one child who's developed acute kidney failure. You know, so McDonald's and the probable onion supplier are facing, you know, a lot of potential claims." said Marler.
