Four days after Donald Trump staged a photo opp at a McDonald’s restaurant in Pennsylvania, where he put on an apron and stood at the drive-thru window for roughly 15 minutes, the fast food chain has been hit with an E. coli outbreak.

The CDC just announced it is investigating a surge of E. coli cases stemming from McDonald’s restaurants in 10 different states: Colorado, Kansas, Utah, Wyoming, and portions of Idaho, Iowa, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, and Oklahoma.

“Most people in this outbreak are reporting eating the Quarter Pounder hamburger at McDonald’s before becoming sick,” the agency said in a statement. “It is not yet known which specific food ingredient is contaminated.”

So far, there have been 49 known cases, 10 hospitalizations, and one death linked to the outbreak. The CDC is urging anyone who recently dined at McDonald’s and is now feeling sick to contact their healthcare provider.

Most who become infected with E. coli experience severe stomach cramps, diarrhea, and vomiting. Symptoms usually start within three to four days and last for about a week before clearing up.

To be clear, there is no evidence to suggest the E. coli outbreak and Trump’s visit to the fast food chain in Pennsylvania are linked.

The 78-year-old ex-president’s PR stunt, which was heavily stage managed and required the restaurant to temporarily close, was an effort by his campaign to troll his opponent, Kamala Harris, who worked at the eatery in college and has talked about it on the campaign trail as a way of connecting with working and middle class Americans in a way the alleged billionaire and 34-time convicted felon cannot.

According to a survey conducted by McDonald’s last year, one in eight Americans has been employed at one of its 13,000+ locations at some point in their lives. If this statistic is true, that would mean nearly 42 million Americans have that shared work experience.

After Trump’s visit, workers for the fast food chain took to the Reddit thread r/McDonaldsEmployees to blast him for violating protocol.

“Where’s his approved uniform shirt? His hat?” one person asked.

“As evidenced by other pictures, he’s not wearing non-slips shoes,” another added, “and he wasn’t wearing a hairnet.”

“Great, so he passed out bags of food for 5 minutes for a photo op….. now let’s see him actually take on the responsibility of a full shift every day for a few years,” a third person said. “This is cosplay and insulting to people who have actually worked any amount of time in their lives.”

OK, now, back to the E. coli outbreak…

In a statement, McDonald’s, which is a long-time supporter of LGBTQ+ causes and DEI efforts, assured customers that it “maintains strict food safety standards and protocols and take our approach to food safety management extremely seriously.” In a video posted yesterday, Joe Erlinger, president of McDonald’s USA, detailed all the steps the fast food chain is taking to control the outbreak.

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