A single-state outbreak of fifteen cases of E. coli O157:H7 has been linked to raw ground beef products from Wolverine Packing Co. of Detroit, Michigan.

On November 15, 2024, the Minnesota Department of Health announced that it was investigating eleven cases of E. coli O157:H7 in the Twin Cities area. Ten of the victims reported having eated burgers at multiple locations of Red Cow, a restaurant chain. The eleventh victim had eaten at Hen House Eatery, a Minneapolis restaurant.

The case count has since risen to fifteen.

Outbreak victims range in age from 9 to 70 years. Two people have been hospitalized.

All of the locations were supplied with ground beef products from the same source—Wolverine Packing.

On November 20, 2024, the Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) reported having found E. coli O157 in a sample of ground beef collected as part of the outbreak investigation.

In response to the MDA’s finding, Wolverine has recalled approximately 167,277 pounds (more than 83 tons) of fresh and frozen ground beef products, supplied to restaurants across the United States.

The fresh ground beef products have a “Use by” date of 11/14/2024, and the frozen products are labeled with production date 10 22 24. All of the recalled products bear establishment number “EST. 2574B” inside the USDA mark of inspection. A complete list of recalled products is available here.

Restaurants are urged not to serve any of the recalled products. These products should be thrown away or returned to the place of purchase.

To date, there have been no reports of outbreak cases outside of Minnesota.

The Minnesota Department of Health recommends that anyone who believes they may have developed an E. coli O157 infection should contact their health care provider.