According to the Georgia Department of Health and the Stephens County Health Department, people with E. coli infections reported eating at the BBQ Shack the weekend of May 2-4, 2013. Epidemiologic, environmental and laboratory investigations into the E. coli outbreak are ongoing. Iced tea is one potential source of the E. coli outbreak.
Symptoms of E. coli infection include painful abdominal cramping and diarrhea. Diarrhea can be watery and then may become bloody. E. coli symptoms may also include vomiting and fever.
Shiga toxin–producing E. coli (STEC) cause approximately 100,000 illnesses, 3,000 hospitalizations, and 90 deaths annually in the United States.
Hemolytic uremic syndrome, or HUS, is the most common cause of acute kidney failure in infants and young children.