At least one media outlet is reporting this morning that outbreaks of E. coli O157:H7 in southern Ontario have been linked by DNA fingerprinting.

But I’d like to see that confirmed elsewhere.

Dr. Robin Williams, medical officer of Health for Niagara Region, said,

"We are trying to track through the supply and the source of the foods … we’re not just looking at the restaurants (involved) we’re also looking at the cross-link between distributors.”

So far 208 food samples have been taken from those restaurants for analysis

The Little Red Rooster in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont., was closed last Friday to let Niagara Region Public Health officials investigate potential sources of contamination. On Tuesday, M.T. Bellies in nearby Welland, Ont., was closed. The number of sick related to these two eateries has climbed to 31, with nine confirmed.

Thursday afternoon, Johnathan’s Family Restaurant of Burlington, Ontario, after the Halton Region Health Department linked several new cases of E. coli O157:H7 to the ’50s-style diner.

Owner Greg Tasoulis told the Toronto Star yesterday he had no option.

"A health department representative came and said `I want you to close the restaurant down.’ … How do they know it doesn’t come from the lettuce I got from our supplier. What if it’s not us? The cost is tremendous to us … over 5,000 people come through here in a week.”

An outbreak at a Harvey’s fast-food restaurant in the central Ontario city of North Bay has led to 237 cases of E. coli O157:H7, of which 46 are laboratory confirmed. At this time there is no link between the southern Ontario outbreak and the North Bay outbreak.