The Red Cow hamburgers E. coli outbreak has now sickened at least 15 people in Minnesota, according to information in a recall notice posted by the USDA. This information was inside a recall notice for Wolverine Packing Company ground beef products.
The Minnesota Department of of Health has not updated its information on this outbreak. We know that at least two of these patients have been hospitalized from the original press release. The current patient age range is from 9 to 70 years.
One patient in the outbreak ate hamburgers at the Hen House Eatery. The Red Cow has restaurants in Hennepin, Ramsey, and Olmstead counties, and the Hen House Eatery is located in the Twin Cities.
After the USDA was informed about the outbreak by the Minnesota Departments of Agriculture and Health on November 12, 2024, they began working in conjunction with those agencies. The ground beef from Wolverine Packing that was collected by the Minnesota Department of Agriculture tested positive for E. coli O157 and has been recalled from restaurants nationwide.
Anyone who ate a hamburger from a table served restaurant, especially if it was served undercooked, should monitor their health for the symptoms of an E. coli O157:H7 infection for the next 10 days. Symptoms can include a mild fever and possible nausea and vomiting. The characteristic symptoms of this infection are severe and painful abdominal cramps along with bloody diarrheal.
Some people can develop a complication called hemolytic uremic syndrome, or HUS, after this infection. Patients most likely to develop HUS are children under the age of five. Symptoms include little or no urine output, easy bruising, pale skin, and lethargy. No one in this outbreak has developed HUS so far.
If you ate an undercooked burger from a table served restaurant and have been ill with those symptoms, see your doctor. You may be part of this Red Cow hamburgers E. coli outbreak.