Public health experts don’t yet know where this current outbreak came from. Here’s what you can do to protect yourself and your family.
| Channel | Publish Date | Thumbnail & View Count | Actions |
|---|---|---|---|
 KVUE | 2018-12-10 18:43:47 |  93 Views |
What You Need to Know About the E. coli Outbreak
If you’ve been feeling like there have been a lot of food recalls and outbreaks of contamination lately you’re right. From harmful bacteria to yeast overgrowth to heavy metals we’ve been reporting on it all. And now there’s another E. coli outbreak. Right now the U.S. Food & Drug Administration doesn’t have a lot of information on it but here’s what we know so far.
Short for Escherichia coli E. coli is a type of bacteria. According to the FDA E. coli is often harmless. In fact some can live in your intestines. But there are different strains of E. coli and some can be potentially dangerous. This recall involves one of those types. This strain of E. coli also called E. coli O157:H7 or Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) can be particularly dangerous and even life-threatening. The primary sources of STEC outbreaks are raw or undercooked meat products raw milk and cheese and contaminated vegetables and Brussels sprouts.
In short we don’t know a whole lot about this particular outbreak. We do know that there have been 25 reported cases of illness so far. Some of the illnesses are reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention which then provides weekly updates to the FDA. And some are reported directly to the FDA so the numbers are constantly changing as the outbreak is actively investigated.
