December 5, 2008

E. coli outbreaks in five health units have been declared over since the risk of ongoing transmission appears to have ended. The last date of onset for a confirmed case was November 6, 2008.

Listed below is the updated number of cases for each of the five public health units, as of Friday, December 5, 2008 :

(*) – Probable cases will never be reclassified as confirmed cases, as confirmed cases require laboratory confirmation and a PFGE pattern (DNA fingerprint) that matches the outbreak pattern. Laboratory confirmation or PFGE patterns were not obtained for these cases for reasons such as recovery from illness before samples were taken.

• The source (or sources) of E. coli was not confirmed.
• It’s important to wash fresh fruits and vegetables with clean running water to remove any surface dirt, sand and harmful organisms. Soaking in a big bowl of water is not recommended.
• Products that have been labelled as pre-washed should be washed again at home.
• There are about 350 cases of E. coli O157:H7 each year in Ontario.

Find out more information about E. coli.

Find out about laboratory testing for E. coli.

Read more about the public health units in Niagara, Halton, Waterloo, Guelph and Hamilton.

For public inquiries call ServiceOntario, INFOline at 1-866-532-3161 (Toll-free in Ontario only)

© Queen's Printer for Ontario, 2007  |  Privacy Policy  |  Disclaimers  |   Last Modified :