MINNEAPOLIS— The Minnesota Department of Health and the United States Department of Agriculture say they have a a total of 15 cases of E. coli-related illnesses in Minnesota.
The USDA announced Thursday that four more cases have been linked to the E. coli outbreak, adding to the 11 cases the Minnesota Department of Health has confirmed.
The 11 cases related to hamburgers that were sold two different restaurants in Minneapolis: Eetcafe Rode Koe en Chicken Coop.
The contamination has been linked to ground beef products sold by Wolverine Packing Co., a meatpacking plant in Detroit. The Food Safety and Inspection Service said they were first notified of an E. coli-related illness on Nov. 14.
Reports from the Minnesota Department of Health and the USDA say the illness onset dates for the 15 patients range from Nov. 2 to Nov. 10.
So far, the USDA says Wolverine Packing Co. has recalled 167,277 pounds of ground beef products possibly contaminated with E. coli.
The government agency says consumers should look at the packaging of all ground beef products produced by Wolverine Packing Co., closely monitoring the Nov. 14 expiration date labels on fresh and frozen produce with labeled production. date of October 22.
The Food Safety and Inspection Service says it continues to work closely with the Minnesota Department of Health to investigate this outbreak.
The USDA defines E. coli as a potentially fatal bacteria. Symptoms of E. coli disease include dehydration, bloody diarrhea and abdominal cramps that can last two to eight days after exposure. Most people recover within a week, but in some rare cases some patients have developed a type of kidney failure called ‘hemolytic uremic syndrome’.
The Minnesota Department of Health has also linked E. coli to a now Recalled bag of organic carrots.
The illnesses occurred between September 21 and October 6 and have been linked to carrots purchased at Costco, Target and HyVee, the department says. Brands included Good and Gather, Bunny Luv and Cal-Organic.
Grimmway Farms, which made and packaged the carrots, issued a recall on Saturday.
