"Swift and Decisive Action to Prevent Outbreak"
Recently, in the United States, E. coli was detected in McDonald's Quarter Pounder hamburgers, causing a widespread food poisoning outbreak, and McDonald's stock price is also fluctuating.
On the 25th (local time), the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced that E. coli O157:H7 was detected in McDonald's Quarter Pounder hamburgers, causing food poisoning symptoms in 75 people across 13 states. O157:H7 is a variant of E. coli that can cause severe illness. Among them, 22 people were hospitalized, and one elderly patient died. Two of the hospitalized patients showed symptoms of hemolytic uremic syndrome, which causes acute kidney failure. This disease destroys red blood cells and can damage the kidneys, potentially leading to kidney failure in severe cases.
Health authorities suspect the onions used in the Quarter Pounder as the source of contamination and are conducting a thorough epidemiological investigation. Currently, some McDonald's locations in states including Colorado, Kansas, Utah, Wyoming, New Mexico, and Oklahoma have temporarily suspended the use of Quarter Pounder sliced onions and beef patties.
McDonald's stock price fell 2.97% on the day due to the impact of this food poisoning outbreak. On the 23rd, when the CDC confirmed that the cause of the E. coli infection was McDonald's burgers, the stock price dropped 5.12%. It rose 1.01% the following day but turned downward again on the third day. Foreign media reported that McDonald's issued a statement to calm investors' concerns and said it is taking swift and decisive measures to prevent the outbreak from spreading. Joe Erlinger, President of McDonald's USA, emphasized, "We have immediately withdrawn the problematic menu items from 20% of our more than 14,000 stores in the U.S." However, the securities market expects McDonald's stock price to continue fluctuating depending on the company's response going forward.
Earlier, on the 22nd, the CDC announced that 49 people in 10 states showed food poisoning symptoms, with one death and 10 hospitalizations. Among 42 people interviewed by the CDC, all had eaten at McDonald's, and 39 said they had eaten hamburgers. The affected age range varied from 13 to 88 years old. The CDC estimates that the number of food poisoning cases may be much higher than currently known.
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