Adams Farm Slaughterhouse has issued a recall of some of its beef, veal and bison products over concerns that these might contain a strain of potentially deadly strain of E-coli bacteria.
The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) said that at least seven people in four U.S. states have already been identified to have been infected by the potentially lethal E. coli O157:H7 believed to be linked to Adams Farm Slaughterhouse.
E. coli O157:H7 is known to cause possibly life-threatening infections particularly in older adults, young children and those with weak immune systems. Infection may cause abdominal cramps and diarrhea or worse, a type of kidney failure known as hemolytic uremic syndrome.
Infected individuals in Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and West Virginia got ill from June 27 and Sept 4. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said that five of these patients were hospitalized. The CDC added that 57 percent of those who were infected were female.
Authorities found reason to believe that the outbreak is linked to Adams Farms Slaughterhouse since all of the five hospitalized patients reported consuming products sold by the company.
The CDC also uses a national database that can catch emerging outbreaks by identifying DNA matches from bacterial samples of infected individuals and this indicate that infection likely came from the same source.
"FSIS determined that there is a link between beef from Adams Farm Slaughterhouse and this illness cluster," the USDA said in a statement.
"Traceback information was available for 5 case-patients and indicated that all 5 case-patients consumed beef products supplied by Adams Farms Slaughterhouse."
Affected products were shipped to several locations which include retailers, farmers' markets and restaurants in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and eastern New York.
Recalled products were from animals that were slaughtered on different dates starting July 15 to Aug. 26 and were packed between July 21 to Sept 22.
In a statement, Adams Farm Slaughterhouse said that it is working with health authorities to protect their customers.
"We are working with the USDA and the Mass Department of Public Health to ensure that all product that could be contaminated is withdrawn from sale to protect our customers and those that buy from our customers," the company said.
A USDA spokesman said that USDA continues to conduct investigation and may expand the recall if necessary.
