The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Friday that ground beef caused a multistate outbreak of E. coli, and the Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service is investigating.
Although the CDC has not determined the source of the ground beef involved in the outbreak, the agency is not encouraging retailers to put a hold on selling the meat.
“Ill people in this outbreak report eating ground beef at home and in restaurants,” the CDC said Friday. “Traceback investigations are ongoing to determine the source of ground beef supplied to grocery stores and restaurant locations where ill people ate.”
In total, the outbreak has sickened 109 people in six states and sent 17 people to the hospital. The bacteria typically causes nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and fever, and can last up to a week. While the food poisoning can be severe, no deaths have been reported in this outbreak.
The outbreak comes after the CDC encouraged consumers to stop eating romaine lettuce in November because it was responsible for an E. coli outbreak. The CDC deemed that outbreak over in January after it had affected more than 60 U.S. consumers and sent at least 25 people to the hospital.
