One of the advantages of DNA fingerprinting of bugs that make people sick is that previously hidden patterns emerge.

If Canadians stopped using stagecoaches to transport samples – or developed any kind of urgency around the listeria outbreak – maybe links would have emerged earlier and lives saved.

The outbreak of E. coli O157:H7 at Michigan State University took a new twist Tuesday when state health officials announced that the same strain of O157 has been linked to at least eight other cases throughout the state, including one at the University of Michigan and five at the Lenawee County Jail.

The findings have led investigators to believe that the patients all got ill from ingesting the same contaminated food source.

The Detroit News reports that,

“Within the last two weeks, 27 students at MSU fell ill with bloody diarrhea, including seven who needed to be hospitalized. Stool samples in eight of the patients showed that E. coli O157:H7 was the culprit. …

“Lab test results, called DNA fingerprinting, for three MSU students matched those of patients who became sick from E. coli in Washtenaw, St. Clair, Wayne and Lenawee counties since Sept. 8.”

DNA fingerprinting is a wonderful tool – when used in a timely fashion.