E. coli cases climb to 104 in deadly outbreak linked to slivered onions served at McDonald's

Nov. 14, 2024 / UPI

McDonald's on Wednesday announced that it has identified a new supplier of slivered onions. File Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI | License Photo

Nov. 14 (UPI) -- A deadly E. coli outbreak connected to slivered onions served in McDonald's Quarter Pounder hamburgers across the country has sickened at least 104 people, federal health officials said.

The updated figure was announced by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Wednesday. The federal health authority said the cases were reported in 14 states.

Of the more than 100 people infected in the outbreak, 34 have been hospitalized, including four who developed hemolytic uremic syndrome, a serious condition that can cause kidney failure.

One person, an older adult in Colorado, has died from the illness, the CDC said, noting the patient was not one of those who had developed HUS.

The ages of the affected individuals range from 1 to 88 years old.

"The true number of sick people in this outbreak is likely much higher than the number reported, and the outbreak may not be limited to the states with known illnesses," the CDC said, explaining that many people recover without medical care and are not tested for the bacterium.

The illnesses were reported between Sept. 12 and Oct. 14.

McDonald's last month identified slivered onions supplied to some 900 of its restaurants by Taylor Farms' Colorado Springs, Colo., facility was the source of the outbreak.

The iconic U.S. fast-food chain late last month had pulled the Quarter Pounder from menus, but later said it would stop serving it with slivered onions in the affected states.

It also indefinitely stopped sourcing onions from the Colorado facility of Taylor Farms, which also issued a recall.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday said in a statement that it is working with Taylor Farms to determine if additional "downstream customer recalls" are necessary.

"At this time, there does not appear to be a continued food safety concern related to this outbreak at McDonald's restaurants," the FDA said.

On Wednesday, McDonald's said in a statement that it has identified an alternate supplier of slivered onions for the 900 restaurants that had stopped serving the Quarter Pounder.

"Over the past week, these restaurants resumed the sale of Quarter Pounder burgers with slivered onions," it said.