The Sudbury and District Health Unit has concluded its local investigation into an outbreak of E. coli bacteria involving 15 people.
The investigation points to a common food exposure at a local restaurant on Sept. 20. Laboratory tests from the Sudbury outbreak and from an E. coli outbreak in Hamilton all indicate a common source for both outbreaks. The health unit says it is likely that food was contaminated somewhere in the production/distribution system.
“Although our outbreak investigation is completed at the local level, we continue to communicate with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care to ensure that they are fully informed for any further investigation they may need to do at the provincial or national level,” said Dr. Penny Sutcliffe, medical officer of health for the Sudbury and District Health Unit, in a news release.
“Our investigation points to lettuce as a common food exposure on Sept. 20, but there is no evidence of any ongoing risk," she said.
The health unit has refused to name the restaurant in question.
Clinical symptoms of E. coli infection can include abdominal cramps, diarrhea (may be bloody), nausea, vomiting, headache, muscle aches, fatigue and fever. Symptoms usually appear three to five days after exposure and usually last less than a week.
To reduce the risk of food-borne illness, the health unit recommends: thoroughly wash your hands with soap before, during and after preparing foods, wash vegetables and fruit before eating them, use separate cutting boards for preparing meats and vegetables/fruit, cook foods thoroughly, chill leftovers promptly, drink only pasteurized milk and juices and do not prepare food if you are ill.
For more information about E. coli, contact the health unit at 522-9200 or visit www.sdhu.com.
