17 confirmed cases of E. coli linked to Wolverine Packing Co. ground beef
MINNEAPOLIS — The Minnesota Department of Health and the United States Department of Agriculture say they have confirmed a total of 17 cases of E. coli related illnesses in Minnesota.
The USDA announced Thursday that an additional four cases have been linked to the E. coli outbreak, on top of the 11 cases the Minnesota Department of Health had already confirmed. By that evening, two more cases had been reported.
The 11 cases were linked to burgers sold at two different restaurants in Minneapolis: Red Cow and Hen House Eatery.
The contamination has been linked to ground beef products sold from Wolverine Packing Co., a meat-packing plant located in Detroit. The Food Safety and Inspection Service said they were first notified of an E. coli related illness on Nov. 14.
The two restaurants affected by the outbreak reportedly get their meat from the Detroit-based company.
Reports from the Minnesota Department of Health and the USDA say illness onset dates for the 15 patients ranges from Nov. 2 to Nov. 10.
So far, the USDA says Wolverine Packing Co. has recalled 167,277 pounds of ground beef products that may be contaminated with E. coli.
The government agency says consumers should look at the packaging of any ground beef products produced by Wolverine Packing Co., keeping a close eye on labeling that have a "used by" date of Nov. 14 on fresh products and frozen products with a labeled production date of Oct. 22.
The Food Safety and Inspection Service says they are continuing to work closely with the Minnesota Department of Health to investigate this outbreak.
The USDA defines as E. coli is a potentially deadly bacterium. Symptoms of E. coli illness include dehydration, bloody diarrhea and abdominal cramps that can last two to eight days after exposure. Most people recover within a week, but in some rare cases some patients have developed a type of kidney failure called "hemolytic uremic syndrome."
The Minnesota Department of Health has also linked E. coli to a now recalled bag of organic carrots.
The illnesses occurred between Sept. 21 and Oct. 6 and have been linked to carrots purchased from Costco, Target and HyVee, the department says. Brands included Good and Gather, Bunny Luv and Cal-Organic.
Grimmway Farms, which made and packaged the carrots, issued the recall on Saturday.