--- title: E. coli O103 Ground Beef Outbreak date: 2021-08-02T13:32:00-07:00 author: Bill Marler canonical_url: "https://marlerclark.com/news_events/e-coli-o103-ground-beef-outbreak" section: News --- [All News](/news_events) / [Outbreaks](https://marlerclark.com/news_events/outbreaks) / # E. coli O103 Ground Beef Outbreak Marler Clark investigated an *E. coli* O103 outbreak linked to ground beef. As of 2019 there were no common supplier, distributer, or brand of ground beef identified as the cause of outbreak. The CDC, several states, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration also investigated this multistate outbreak of Shiga toxin-producing *E. coli* O103 infections. This investigation included *E. coli* O103 infections reported by the Kentucky Department of Public Health. Public health investigators used the PulseNet system to identify illnesses that may have been part of this outbreak. PulseNet is the national subtyping network of public health and food regulatory agency laboratories coordinated by CDC. DNA fingerprinting is performed on *E. coli* bacteria isolated from ill people by using techniques called pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) and whole genome sequencing (WGS). CDC PulseNet manages a national database of these DNA fingerprints to identify possible outbreaks. WGS gives a more detailed DNA fingerprint than PFGE. WGS performed on *E. coli* from ill people in this outbreak showed that they are closely related genetically. This means that the ill people were more likely to share a common source of infection. As of May 13, 2019, 196 people infected with the outbreak strain of *E. coli* O103 were reported from ten states – Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Minnesota, Mississippi, Ohio, Tennessee, and Virginia. CDC reported the 196 illnesses that PulseNet confirmed were part of this outbreak. States investigated additional illnesses that might have been a part of this outbreak. Illnesses started on dates from March 1, 2019, to April 19, 2019. Ill people ranged in age from 1 to 84 years, with a median age of 19. Fifty-two percent were female. Of 174 people with information available, 28 (16%) had been hospitalized. No deaths and two cases of hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) had been reported. Outbreaks of *E. coli* O103 are rare. Investigation of this outbreak is now over. From the CDC NORS dataset: YearStateTransmissionSerotypeSetting Illnesses 2000 Washington Food O103 Caterer (food prepared off-site from where served); Other 18 2010 Minnesota Food O103:H2; O145:NM School/college/university 29 2011 Wisconsin Animal Contact O103; O157:H7 6 2013 Minnesota Person-to-person O103 Child day care 3 2013 Pennsylvania Indeterminate O103:H2 Private home/residence 2 2014 Ohio Indeterminate O103 Child day care 3 2014 Multistate Food O103:H2 Restaurant – other or unknown type 12 2014 Ohio Indeterminate O103; O157:H7; O146:H21 Private home/residence 4 2015 Multistate Food O103 Restaurant – other or unknown type 4 2015 Ohio Person-to-person O103 School/college/university 6 2015 Multistate Food O103 Restaurant – other or unknown type 6 2015 Kansas Person-to-person O103 Child day care 12 2015 North Carolina Person-to-person O103 Child day care 20 2015 Virginia Person-to-person O103:H2 Prison/jail 4 2015 Ohio Indeterminate O103 Child day care 5 2016 Ohio Indeterminate 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