Two More Cases Linked to Canadian E. coli Burger Outbreak

Two more cases of E. coli O157:H7 have been connected to the Canadian outbreak linked to hamburgers announced by health officials in December of last year, bringing the total number of illnesses to seven.  One of the two newly reported illnesses occurred in Manitoba and the other occurred in Ontario, according to a Friday announcement from Canada’s Public Health Agency. Illnesses linked to this outbreak began in September of 2012 and continued through the end of January of this year.  Of the seven cases now linked to the outbreak, two were in Alberta, four in Ontario and one in Manitoba.  Only one victim was hospitalized and no deaths were linked to the outbreak, according to the official illness count, according to the official illness count from  PHA.  However, the agency also notes that another person was sickened by the same strain of E. coli as the one found in the burgers, and died as a result of that infection in December. This person was not counted as a victim of the outbreak because “there was not enough food history information available to connect the individual with the contaminated product.”  The two most recent cases have been tied to one of the products recalled for risk of E. coli in December: Gourmet Meat Shoppe Big and Juicy frozen beef burgers.  PHA says the risk of more consumers falling ill is low because all products linked to the outbreak were recalled at that time.  However, consumers are urged to check their freezers in case they might still be in possession of the recalled burgers.  The Canadian Food Inspection Agency provides a list of the recalled frozen burgers in a chart: