Person-to-person illness now in Ottawa salmonella outbreak

The Ottawa Citizen reports that Ottawa’s public health department has recorded a case of salmonella in a high school not served by the caterer believed to have been the source of the recent outbreak.

The case at Merivale High School may be an instance where an older student caught salmonella from a younger sibling, said Eric Leclair, a spokesman for the health department.

The tally of people who’ve contracted the foodborne illness since the department declared an outbreak remains at 50, though only 44 of them are believed to be connected via contaminated food delivered by a franchise of The Lunch Lady, a service that delivers hot food for children’s lunches.

The health department is still waiting for the results of lab tests on Lunch Lady food – meat used in lasagna and tacos, plus sour cream, cottage cheese and some spices – that would confirm the connection. Those are now expected by Friday, Leclair said.

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About Douglas Powell

A former professor of food safety and the publisher of barfblog.com, Powell is passionate about food, has five daughters, and is an OK goaltender in pickup hockey. Download Doug’s CV here. Dr. Douglas Powell editor, barfblog.com retired professor, food safety 3/289 Annerley Rd Annerley, Queensland 4103 dpowell29@gmail.com 61478222221 I am based in Brisbane, Australia, 15 hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time