31 now sick: Update on E. coli O157 outbreak in Canada

It’s a Canadian press release with a compelling lede like “The Public Health Agency of Canada is collaborating with federal and provincial public health partners to investigate an outbreak of Escherichia coli O157.”

bureaucrat.pink.flyodBecause people are sick, we don’t know much, but we are collaborating.

 A specific source or product has not been identified yet, and the investigation is ongoing. The Agency will update Canadians when new information becomes available.

There have been 31 cases of E. coli with a matching genetic fingerprint reported in Alberta (1), Ontario (11), Quebec (17) and Nova Scotia (2). Individuals became sick between July 6 and September 4, 2015, with the peak of illnesses reported to date occurring between July 25 and August 1, 2015. The majority of cases (52%) were male, with an average age of 25 years. Seven cases have been hospitalized but all have recovered or are recovering.

And that’s that.