“Hamburger disease” (hemolytic uremic syndrome) was named after disease outbreaks at McDonald’s restaurants in 1982 and was popularized by E. coli outbreaks at Jack in the Box restaurants in 1993. The disease can lead to bloody diarrhea and occasionally to kidney failure.
   
“Characterized by bloody diarrhea, the illness has been dubbed hamburger disease and barbecue syndrome,” a 1987 newspaper reported.
 
   
Wikipedia: Hamburger disease
Hamburger disease may refer to:
 
. Hemolytic uremic syndrome: a disease caused by E. coli O157:H7
.. Hemorrhagic colitis: a precursor to Hemolytic uremic syndrome
. Proliferative Gill Disease
 
Wikipedia: Hemolytic-uremic syndrome
Hemolytic-uremic syndrome (or haemolytic-uraemic syndrome), abbreviated HUS, is a disease characterized by hemolytic anemia (anemia caused by destruction of red blood cells), acute kidney failure (uremia), and a low platelet count (thrombocytopenia). It predominantly, but not exclusively, affects children. Most cases are preceded by an episode of infectious, sometimes bloody, diarrhea acquired as a foodborne illness or from a contaminated water supply and caused by E. coli O157:H7, although Shigella, Campylobacter and a variety of viruses have also been implicated.
     
Wikipedia: 1993 Jack in the Box E coli outbreak
The 1993 Jack in the Box E. coli outbreak has been referred to as the “Pearl Harbor for the food game,” the “9/11 of the food industry,” and has been described as “far and away the most infamous food poison outbreak in contemporary history.”
 
Google News Archive
8 October 1982, Rome (GA) News-Tribune, pg. 2-A, col.s 5-6:
In new outbreaks
Hamburger, disease linked
ATLANTA (AP).—McDonald’s Corp. officials said they expect trading of the fast-food giant’s stock to resume on the New York Stock Exchange today after a halt Thursday following reports of a new disease related to hamburger meat.
 
The Atlanta-based National Centers for Disease Control traced cases of the illness earlier this year to McDonald’s restaurants in Oregon and Michigan. But a CDC epidemiologist said Thursday that sporadic cases discovered since then have been linked to other hamburger chains and private homes.
 
The illness seems to be transmitted through hamburger meat, according to epidimologist Mitchell Cohen, who presented his data on the disease at a medical conference in Miami on Wednesday.
 
15 August 1987, Medicine Hat (Alberta) News, “Calgary researchers track killer bacteria” (CP), pg. 1, col. 5:
Characterized by bloody diarrhea, the illness has been dubbed hamburger disease and barbecue syndrome.
 
Google Books
November 1990, Vegetarian Times, “One Whopper, Hold the Hamburger,” pg. 14, col. 2:
Back in 1982, doctors in the United States traced two outbreaks of hemor- rhagic colitis — also known as “hamburger disease” — to two fast-food hamburger chains. The meat was contaminated with a strain of E. coli bacteria in the packing house.
 
Google Books
CAP 90:
Proceedings of the fifth international conference on controlled/modified atmosphere/vacuum packaging, January 17-19, 1990, Fairmont Hotel, San Jose, California, USA.
Princeton, NJ: Schotland Business Research, Inc.
1990
Pg. 294:
Even though it cannot grow at refrigeration temperatures, it has had an effect on at least one class of chilled foods. First identified as a food pathogen in the early 80,s, it is responsible for what some have called “hamburger disease.” This rather flippant nickname doesn’t convey the seriousness of the diseases’s symptoms, which can include bloody diarrhea and kidney failure.
 
YouTube
MedSchoolForParents .com - Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome, the Hamburger Disease
MedSchool ForParents  
Published on Sep 4, 2013
Dr Colin White, a MedSchoolForParents com expert, explains the danger in Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (the Hamburger Disease), and ways to prevent it.
   
cantech letter
Breakthrough: Canadian-made E. coli test finds contamination in hours, not days
NOVEMBER 12, 2015 BY NICK WADDELL
(...)
E. coli, sometimes referred to as the “Hamburger Disease” became part of the public lexicon in the early 1990’s, when an outbreak linked to the Jack in the Box Restaurant chain in the Western United States produced a whopping 602 cases that resulted in hundreds of hospitalizations and several deaths. The source of the contaminated beef was never identified.