May 16, 2014

Undercooked beef has been blamed for a recent outbreak of E. coli in the US, with Oakland, Washtenaw and three other counties being the affected areas.

The Michigan Department of Community Health reports that five adults have been sickened since late April - three of them hospitalised.

"We definitely could call it an outbreak," said MDCH spokesperson, Angela Minicuci. "I wouldn't say it's anything that's incredibly severe at this point. We have five cases in five counties in the state of Michigan."

The other three counties are Kent, Livingston and Ottawa.

Laboratory results suggest that the illnesses are linked to undercooked ground beef consumed at multiple locations.

"It's hard to say whether or not it was a restaurant at this point," said Minicuci. "It could have been beef that they purchased elsewhere, so until we know the source of beef…the best thing we can do is just to recommend, if you're going to be eating beef, that it's cooked all the way."

According to health officials, most infected people are expected to recover within a week; however, some may develop complications which require hospitalisation.

Young children and the elderly are at the highest risk of a life-threatening complication known as hemolytic uremic syndrome, which includes kidney failure.

Meanwhile, consumers have been advised to properly prepare raw meat products, including fresh and frozen, and only consume ground beef which has been cooked to an internal temperature of 160° F.