1. The Foundation for the Elimination of E. Coli
P.O. Box 3553 Seattle, WA 98124 1-800-88E-COLI
The nonprofit Foundation for the Elimination of E. Coli (FEEC) grew out of the
tragic 1993 outbreak of E. coli 0157:H7 bacteria in Washington, Nevada, Utah,
California, Oregon and Idaho that poisoned more than 650 people and killed three
children and one adult who had eaten contaminated meat sold by the Jack in the
Box restaurant chain.
EPIDEMIOLOGY
Escherichia coli 0157:H7 is a serious, infectious bacterium which produces a toxin
that can cause widespread, multi-organ damage and death. The disease hits
young children and the elderly the hardest. Typical early symptoms include severe
bloody diarrhea and abdominal cramping. Infection results from eating under-
cooked, contaminated meat or poultry; drinking raw milk; consuming products
cross-contaminated with raw meat or animal fecal matter; or through contact with
an infected person. E. coli poisoning can progress to hemolytic uremic syndrome
(HUS), a typically fatal illness that can cause severe weight loss; anemia; blood-
clotting problems; cardiac and colon complications; and kidney, liver and respir-
atory failure.
NATIONAL MORBIDITY
Although E. coli 0157:H7—a rare strain of bacteria which infects a small percent-
age of meat, poultry or raw milk—was only identified as a human pathogen in
1982, the Washington outbreak is just the latest in a long series of poisonings
stretching back more than a decade. E. coli outbreaks have occurred in at least 28
states and have killed at least 24 people nationwide since deregulation of the
meat industry in 1986. The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDCP) estimate E. coli has poisoned at least 220,000 people since 1982 and
continues to strike at least 20,000 people annually. The number of affected people
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2. may be even higher since most states do not require mandatory reporting of E.
coli outbreaks.
Government and health officials across the nation long have been aware of the in-
creasing cases of poisonings caused by contaminated meat, and that the pres-
ence of E. coli and other bacteria is not detected by current federal meat-inspec-
tion practices. More than a year before the Seattle outbreak, a meat inspector with
the Department of Agriculture predicted that “you will see more cases of food poi-
soning, more people dying, more people getting sick from eating contaminated
meat.”
MISSION: SUPPORT, INFORMATION, PREVENTION
Rather than placing blame, the foundation, formed by families and friends of E.
coli victims, as well as concerned people across the nation, seeks solutions to the
tremendous national public-health dangers revealed by the outbreak. In addition to
providing support for victims and their families in dealing with this devastating dis-
ease, the foundation acts as a clearinghouse for the latest research of E. coli-
related topics and provides information to the public, government, medical com-
munity and the media.
The foundation is promoting legislation requiring mandatory nationwide testing
and reporting of all E. coli cases, and improved meat and poultry inspection prac-
tices—including testing for microbes such as E. coli. The foundation also is work-
ing to require national, uniform, hamburger-cooking temperatures of at least 155
degrees; safety-warning labels on all meat and poultry; and the elimination of E.
coli from the nation’s food supply.
For More Information:
Steven Spenser
Praxis Communication
206-361-8700 (24 hrs.)