Michigan Ohio E. coli Outbreak Proves the Need to Regulate Non-O157 STECs
E. coli O157:H7 was declared an adulterant in ground beef in 1994, but USDA has failed to put six additional strains of shiga-toxin producing E. coli (STEC) in the same category.
Members of the food safety community, including law firm Pritzker Olsen, have been calling for the expanded ruling so that producers of meat are required to test for the potentially deadly pathogens to help protect our food supply..jpg)
A non-O157:H7 E. coli strain is currently loose in Michigan and Ohio and public health officials are scrambling to determine the food source. If you or a loved one has been affected by the outbreak, call Pritzker Olsen at 1-888-377-8900 (Toll Free) for a free case consultation. Or, you can contact us with the online form on the side of this Web page.
In the Michigan-Ohio E. coli outbreak, at least 12 people have tested positive for non-O157 E. coli and 20 more people are considered probable victims pending test results. Officials are urging anyone with symptoms of E. coli, which include bloody diarrhea and painful abdominal cramps, to contact a physician. Make sure to ask to be tested for E. coli -- your physician is required to report the illness to the health department.
The six non-O157 E. coli strains identified as STEC pathogens by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are O26, O111, O103, O121, O45 and O145. These strains can cause hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP), kidney failure, and E. coli death, just like the O157 strain.
The CDC estimates that non-0157 STECs cause 36,700 illnesses, 1,100 hospitalizations and 30 deaths in America each year. As Pritzker Olsen founder and president Fred Pritzker has often said: They are just as hazardous as E. coli O157:H7 and need to be regulated.
The current E. coli outbreak, which has sickened university students in Columbus, Ohio, and Ann Arbor, Michigan, could help call attention to the problem. Leaders on this issue have included S.T.O.P. -- Safe Tables Our Priority and select members of Congress including Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York.
Senator Gillibrand already has put out a press release on this issue in response to the outbreak.:
"The laws that are meant to keep us safe from hazardous foods are in critical need of updating. We need immediate action to keep our families safe,'' Sen. Gillibrand says.
