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E. coli Outbreak Linked to The Kebab Shop’s Beef Kofta Sickens Nine in California

State investigators say the infections involve Shiga toxin–producing E. coli and have led the chain to pause sales of the implicated ground beef.

E. coli cells are seen in a synthetic biology lab at Harvard Medical School in 2011. Not all types of E. coli make people sick, but the type implicated in the California outbreak, STEC (Shiga toxin-producing E. coli) can cause diarrhea, vomiting and abdominal cramps.  
Image
FILE – E.coli bacteria.

Overview

  • Nine Californians fell ill with STEC between March 27 and April 30, six of them children and five hospitalized, and two patients developed hemolytic uremic syndrome.
  • Health investigators identified seasoned ground beef kofta served at The Kebab Shop as the likely source after interviewing sick customers.
  • The Kebab Shop stopped selling beef kofta on May 18 and says the implicated product appears to have been distributed only to its restaurants.
  • Officials are conducting product testing, tracing the supply chain, advising customers to discard leftovers and to seek medical care for symptoms within 10 days, and have set up a customer hotline.
  • STEC infections usually cause diarrhea and stomach cramps three to four days after exposure and can lead to acute kidney failure in young children, so public-health agencies are monitoring for new cases and checking upstream suppliers.