2015 E. Coli Outbreak @ecoliepidemicoutbreak-blog - Tumblr Blog

Risk sources of E. coli

There are many ways one can get E. coli. The transmission of this bacteria is common and one should be aware of the foods that E. coli is found in. These types of food include: under cooked ground beef, unpasteurized milk/juice, cheeses from raw milk, raw fruit and vegetables, untreated water (swimming in lakes and rivers as well), touching animals like cows, sheep, and goats or their environment, or touching fecal matter. Although it is not completely said that one will get E. coli from the actions mentioned above, it is always helpful to keep a look out when eating or doing these activities.

#careful

The incubation period of E. coli typically ranges from 1-10 days. According to this graph from the CDC, the average incubation period is about 6-10 days. This shows that the most number of cases appeared after 10 days of date of illness onset and gradually decreased the number of cases as the dates increased until day 13.

Illness typically lasts 5-10 days.

The number of outbreaks in the US in each state

There is a large amount of outbreaks in Utah, Wisconsin, and Ohio. Most cases are in the West states and North east states. States like Oregon, Idaho, Arizona, New Mexico, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, and New York still had a large number of outbreaks, 10-14. Other states had 1-4 outbreaks, while many South east states did not have any outbreaks.

October 6, 2006

Where does E. Coli come from?

E. coli is found in feces/animal waste. Meat becomes infected when it has contact with animals intestines or feces. Produce also gets infected when it is grown or exposed to fertilizer that contains fecal matter and is not washed well.

You don’t get E. coli if you wash your meat and produce.

#meme

WASH YOUR HANDS/PRODUCE/MEAT

E. coli is a bacterial outbreak that continues on, so take precautions of what you eat and how you prepare food because it is a recurring epidemic. Washing hands can help prevent cross-contamination or contact to the body that could make one sick. Washing hands, produce, and meat is a very important aspect to not getting E. coli and maintaining a clean, safe environment.

What is HUS?

HUS stands for hemolytic uremic syndrome. It could be caused from a very serious E. coli infection which could result in kidney failure. This is because of damaged red blood cells in the kidneys which takes a week to develop and is life-threatening.

What happened with the Chipotle E. coli outbreak in 2015?

53 people were infected with STEC O26, shiga toxin-producing E. coli. The E. coli stemmed from cross-contamination of Australian beef, but the CDC believes it was from the produce. After this incident, Chipotle’s sales went down 36% from the year before. This shows the need to make sure meat and produce are cleaned and washed before serving and to cook raw meat and produce separately to avoid cross-contamination.

Statistics

In 1999, it was estimated that about 73,000 people get E. coli each year in the United States. In 2012, Shiga toxin-producing E. coli caused approximately 265,000 illnesses in the United States annually. There were more than 3,600 hospitalizations and 30 deaths from these outbreaks annually.

How can I treat my E. coli!?!?!!

To treat E. coli, make sure you are drinking plenty of fluids and getting plenty of rest. Usually, patients do not take medicine for the infection, which usually lasts 5-10 days. Most doctors would not recommend antibiotics, but if the infection is serious, visit a doctor. You may be hospitalized, given IV fluids, blood transfusions, and kidney dialysis.

In order of appearance, E. coli symptoms are first fever, then nausea, vomiting, abdominal cramping, bloody diarrhea, dehydration, severe anemia, kidney failure, or even death. Although this is the order of symptoms, not all may be present. Shiga toxin-producing E. coli, the most common strain of E. coli in food, has stomach cramps, diarrhea, or vomiting as the most common symptoms, which is the same strain that had an outbreak at Chipotles across the United States.

To avoid getting E. coli, make sure to wash hands, utensils, cooking tools, counters, and cutting boards thoroughly after handling raw meat to avoid cross-contamination. In addition, making sure meat is thoroughly cooked is an important way to lessen the chance of getting E. coli. Make sure ground beef is cooked to at least 160 degrees Fahrenheit. E. coli also transfers through produce, such as fruits and vegetables, due to the fertilizer that the produce were grown in which may contain animal fecal matter. Make sure to thoroughly wash fruits and vegetables to get bacteria, pesticides, and chemicals off of the skin before eating it. Furthermore, Prepare food separate from raw meat to avoid cross-contamination between the raw meat and other foods. Make sure food sources are not contaminated with animal waste before eating it.

#avoid cross-contamination #cookitwell

E. coli is a bacterium that lives in the intestines of humans and animals. It comes in many different strains, however most strains are harmless. E. coli uses its flagella to move and reproduces asexually.

#E. coli #Bacterium

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