Outbreaks
Emmpak E. coli Outbreak
On September 5, 2002, a statewide notice was issued to local health departments, and regional offices of the Wisconsin Department Public Health, reporting a cluster of E. coli O157:H7 illnesses, and announcing the initiation of a case-control study. This was the first in a series of events and investigations that would ultimately result in the recall of 2.8 million pounds of Emmpak-manufactured ground beef that was suspected of being adulterated with E. coli O157:H7. It also resulted in the closure of one Emmpak plant for what was deemed by the USDA-FSIS to be inadequate sampling and testing procedures.In all, 57 people were sickened by the consumption of adulterated ground beef, 35 of them in Wisconsin.
