A 1-year-old girl living in Wan Chai is the first case of E. coli O157:H7 infection reported to the Centre for Health Protection (CHP) of the Department of Health this year.

She did not require hospitalization.

A CHP spokesman said E. coli O157:H7 could be contracted through consumption of undercooked contaminated food or contaminated water, or transmitted from person to person through the fecal-oral route.

“However, the bacteria can be killed at a cooking temperature of 75 degrees Celsius for two to three minutes. Members of the public are advised to cook food thoroughly to prevent infection. The core temperature of meat should reach 75 degrees Celsius for at least two to three minutes, until the cooked meat is brown throughout and the juices run clear.”

Use a thermometer, not color. In the absence of any information about how the girl was infected, eliminating other sources and sticking with the just-cook-it-and-be-clean message is simplistic at best, condescension at worse.