How To Prevent Hamburger Disease

Barbecue season syndrome (Haemorrhagic Colitis) better known as Hamburger disease is a very chronic condition contracted from during barbecues.

This disease is a food poisoning caused by E. coli that is found in certain foods, including meat, especially ground beef. In case of barbecues, burgers are not cooked properly and can cause this disease. It can also occur when you eat off of the same plate where the burgers were prepared.

The common symptoms of this disease are liquid diarrhea with blood along with severe abdominal pain, vomiting and fever. This dangerous disease that is affected to 2-7% of people regardless of the age cause a complication called Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (HUS) occurring in the first or second week after the first infection.

Caused by the verotoxin, this disease causes the break down of red blood cells resulting in severe anemia and transfusion requirement. This toxin also causes kidney failure by shutting down the kidney. E. coli toxin can be fatal in rare cases. The symptom starts the second day of E. coli infection through contaminated meat.

How to prevent the disease:

• Always refrigerate the hamburger meat (ground beef) until it is cooked.
• Always use well-cooked Hamburgers (ground beef) only. Rather than being gray temperature of the meat should be 70 C so that any bacteria present in it will be killed.
• You should also see to it that frozen hamburgers are also well cooked which also require longer cooking times.
• Never put cooked burgers in the same plate of the raw(uncooked) burgers and do not eat it from the plate it was prepared.
• Remember to eat the hamburgers immediately after cooking it without leaving them on a plate.
• Drinking water as well as swimming needs to be chlorinated and monitored properly.
• For an infected child, you should prevent the disease from spreading by thorough hand washing.
• Keep away from raw milk and un-pasteurized juices.
• Always wash thoroughly the uncooked fresh foods.
• Remember to clean and disinfect every cooking surface after using.
• Practicing good personal hygiene is highly important.