The top 10 outbreaks of 2024 continues with number six: the deadly McDonald’s onions E. coli O157:H7 outbreak. In that outbreak, 104 people were sickened, 34 were hospitalized, and one person who lived in Colorado died. That outbreak was declared over on December 3, 2024.
The final patient case count was: Colorado (30), Iowa (1), Kansas (3), Michigan (2), Missouri (8), Montana (19), Nebraska (13), New Mexico (10), Oregon (1), Utah (8), Washington (1), Wisconsin (1), and Wyoming (6). Illnesses onset dates range from September 27, 2024 to October 21, 2024. The patient age range was from 1 to 88 years.
In this outbreak, four people developed hemolytic uremic syndrome, or HUS, which is a type of kidney failure. The person who died did not have HUS.
Taylor Farms provided the fresh slivered onions that patients ate. Whole genome sequencing showed that the isolates from ill persons were closely related genetically, which means that the people in this outbreak likely got sick from eating the same food.
The FDA tested recalled onions and one environmental sample from a grower. Both of these samples tested positive for non-O157:H7 Shiga toxin-producing E. coli. The E. coli found was not the outbreak strain and no human illnesses were found related to that strain. More samples from this investigation were negative for E. coli. Still, epidemiologic and traceback data showed that fresh, slivered onions served at McDonald’s were the likely source of this outbreak.
If you ate fresh slivered onions served on any McDonald’s item and have been ill with the symptoms of an E. coli infection or HUS, see your doctor. You may be part of this deadly McDonald’s onions E. coli O157:H7 outbreak.
If you have been sickened with a food poisoning infection, please contact our experienced attorneys for help with a possible lawsuit at 1-888-377-8900 or text us at 612-261-0856. Our firm represents clients in lawsuits against grocery stores, restaurants, and food processors, and families in wrongful death cases.
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