What foods are associated with E coli illness?
Clean foods are not supposed to be the source of the E. coli illness. Undercooked or raw hamburger (ground beef) has been implicated in many of the documented outbreaks, however E. coli O157:H7 outbreaks have implicated alfalfa sprouts, unpasteurized fruit juices, dry-cured salami, lettuce, game meat, and cheese curds. Raw milk was the vehicle in a school outbreak in Canada. Who are at the highest risk of E. coli illness? The young children and the elderly are at high risk of E. coli infection. The severe illness is known as hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), characterized by kidney failure and hemolytic anemia. In young children, less than 15 percent of hemorrhagic colitis resulting from E. coli infection may develop HUS, which can lead to permanent loss of kidney function. In the elderly, HUS plus other two symptoms, fever and neurologic sumptoms, known as thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura, can have a mortality rate in the elderly as high as 50 percent.
