不过据CDC猜测，感染大肠杆菌的实际人数可能要高得多，而且可能来自更多的州，因为许多人在没有进行细菌检测或接受医疗护理的情况下就可以自行康复。① The USA CDC announced that the E. coli outbreak related to McDonald's onion slices has ended. In October, the McDonald's hamburger contamination incident resulted in 104 people feeling unwell and 1 death. ② Despite the end of the outbreak, McDonald's business was affected, with a decrease in customer visits leading to a 7% drop in stock price, resulting in a market cap of 210 billion US dollars.
Financial Union News December 4th (Editor Niuzhanlin) The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced on Tuesday local time that the deadly E. coli outbreak related to onions supplied by McDonald's has ended. During regular trading hours, McDonald's stock price rose by 0.3%.
The background to the event is that in October, E. coli infections from McDonald's hamburgers occurred in 14 states in the USA. 104 people who consumed the problematic hamburgers felt unwell, with 1 death, 34 hospitalized, and at least 4 developing hemolytic uremic syndrome, a rare but serious disease that can lead to kidney failure.
However, according to the CDC's estimation, the actual number of E. coli infections may be much higher and could have originated from more states because many people can recover on their own without undergoing bacterial testing or medical care.
Investigations show that the onions in the quarter-pound beef burgers were the source of contamination. Subsequently, McDonald's removed onions produced by its Colorado plant from the market and indefinitely suspended the use of onions from that plant. Other fast-food chains including Pizza Hut, KFC, and Burger King also removed onions from some menus.
McDonald's North America executive Michael Gonda stated in a declaration on Tuesday, the CDC's update "reinforces the importance of our values, especially in taking prompt and people-centric actions."
He added, "Federal and state officials repeatedly stated that the actions we took in October put the public at 'very low' risk, and since then, the risk has indeed been controlled."
The quarter-pound beef burger is McDonald's core product, generating revenue in the billions of dollars annually. After the outbreak, the company temporarily removed these burgers from some locations, but later reintroduced them to the menu. This burger and fries chain also invested 0.1 billion US dollars in marketing efforts and franchisee support to help improve the company's tarnished image.
Although the infection incident has officially ended, mcdonald's is still dealing with its negative impact. According to Placer's data, on the second day of the CDC's outbreak announcement, mcdonald's customer visits nationwide in the USA dropped by 6.4%, and in the following days, more and more customers stopped visiting mcdonald's.
By November 18, mcdonald's customer visits nationwide in the USA still decreased by 6.6% year-on-year, while the footfall in 14 states where the E. coli infection incident occurred decreased by 9.5% year-on-year.
This means that although mcdonald's is making efforts to introduce new dishes and promotions to attract consumers, food safety issues have indeed cast a shadow over the company's business.
Since the CDC first linked mcdonald's beef burgers to the outbreak, mcdonald's stock price has dropped by 7%, and the company's market cap is currently $210 billion.
It is worth noting that in addition to the mcdonald's E. coli infection incident, there was also an E. coli outbreak in November related to organic carrots in the USA, leading to 39 people falling ill in 18 states and one death.
