Taco Bell E. coli Outbreak: Cases Being Investigated
The CDC is reporting 71 cases of E. coli infection associated with the Taco Bell restaurant outbreak. State health officials are investigating hundreds of additional cases. As of today, this is what the numbers look like:
| State | Confirmed and Probable Cases | Suspected Cases | Total |
| Delaware | 2 | 3 | 5 |
| New Jersey |
33 | 51 | 84 |
| New York |
22 | 339 | 361 |
| Pennsylvania |
13 | 0 | 13 |
| South Carolina |
1 | 0 | 1 |
| Total | 71 | 393 | 464 |
Among these 71 ill persons, 53 (75%) were hospitalized and 8 (11%) developed a type of kidney failure called hemolytic-uremic syndrome (HUS). Illness onset dates have ranged from November 20 to December 6. The number of new cases being identified has declined substantially; the peak time when persons became ill was in the last week of November.
Cases in 48 of the 71 patients are confirmed, meaning that the patients’ E. coli O157 strains have the outbreak “DNA fingerprint.” E. coli O157 strains are routinely “DNA fingerprinted” at public health laboratories in all states as part of PulseNet (the network of public health laboratories that sub-type bacteria). E. coli O157 strains from other cases are being tested by PulseNet. As a result of testing by PulseNet, cases with the outbreak strain “fingerprint” pattern are being re-classified as confirmed cases, and cases with an unrelated “fingerprint” pattern are being dropped from the outbreak case count.
Pritzker | Ruohonen is a nationally-recognized food poisoning litigation law firm. The firm has recently settled a case for $6,425,000 involving victims of an outbreak that sickened people in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and surrounding states. To contact an E. coli lawyer at Pritzker | Ruohonen, please call toll-free at 1-888-377-8900, e-mail Fred Pritzker or use the firm's online-consultation form.
