8 more cases
under investigation in Niagara E. Coli outbreak
Canwest News Service
Source of Article: http://www.canada.com/topics/news/national/story.html?id=2ca5871a-06c6-4611-8ec6-44aa4ab4bf2f
Published: Thursday, October 30, 2008
Health officials in the Niagara region
are investigating eight new cases of E. coli infection, bringing to 31 the
number of people suspected of having been sickened by the food-borne
bacterium.
The outbreak has already led to the temporary closure of two popular
restaurants in the southern Ontario
district.
Eighteen of the currently suspected cases have been linked to the Little
Red Rooster restaurant in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont., and nine cases are
connected to M.T. Bellies in Welland, Ont., Niagara Region Public Health officials said Thursday.
The remaining four have not
yet been tied to a particular locale.
Medical officials have not yet been able to identify a specific source for
the O157: H7 strain of E. coli at the centre of the outbreak.
Carrie Beatty, a spokeswoman for Niagara's
public health authority, said she was not aware of anyone in the region
currently hospitalized due to E. coli infection. Symptoms associated with the
strain include bloody diarrhea, vomiting, stomach cramps and fever.
A Harvey's fast-food restaurant in North Bay, Ont., closed
Oct. 12 due to E. coli contamination. As of Thursday, North Bay Parry Sound
District Health Unit officials were investigating 235 cases in the central Ontario city, 45 of
which have been confirmed as caused by the particular strain of E. coli.
The investigation into the source of the contamination continues. No
sources have been identified.
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