Traverse City, Michigan, is not in the upper peninsula, or UP.

I’m sorry.

But something’s going on in Michigan, where last week several people were confirmed sick with shigatoxin-producing E. coli, and late Wednesday, Huron County health types announced several children and one adult are experiencing gastrointestinal (bowel) infections which are presumed to be E. coli O157:H7.

The Huron County Health Department issued a release Wednesday afternoon. with the usual snappy soundbites like,

“Some people may experience only mild diarrhea or no symptoms at all,” and, “Eating meat that is rare or inadequately cooked is the most common way of getting the infection.”

Maybe, but I doubt it. Cross contamination could be a bigger cause, based on direct observation of people in commercial or home kitchens.