As of this week, a total of 156 people infected with the outbreak strain of E. coli O103 have been reported from 10 states – Minnesota, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, Mississippi, Georgia and Florida.
To date there have been two recalls. Link between two producers of meat and the recalls remain unclear (How are the two connected? Presumably a common supplier?) except that both recalls were prompted by positive E. coli O103 tests on “Unopened, intact, packages of ground beef collected as part of the ongoing investigation tested positive for E. coli O103 at an FSIS laboratory.”
It is likely that more recalls will happen as FSIS, CDC and state health authorities continue their efforts to find the source.
What we know is that illnesses began March 1 and it is now almost May 1 – why did it take so long to figure out that 177 people with E. coli O103 were linked to ground beef? Why do we do not yet know the original source of the contamination? Why is the public not being told the location where known illnesses occurred? Finally, are more people going to get sick?
FoodWorld 