Through ongoing monitoring and surveillance activities, two additional cases of E. coli O157:H7 illness have been confirmed as part of this outbreak investigation; one in Manitoba and one in Ontario. This brings the total number of cases to seven: four in Ontario, two in Alberta and one in Manitoba. These individuals became ill between late December and late January. All cases have recovered or are recovering.

The risk to Canadians remains low because all products found to be contaminated were recalled from store shelves. It remains important that Canadians not eat any of the recalled beef.  Check your freezer and if you have recalled products in your home, return them to the store or throw them out.

Based on all the information collected to date – epidemiological, microbiological and food safety – the following cases of illness are linked to the specific strain of E. coli O157:H7 found in the recalled frozen beef burgers.

Over the course of the investigation, an additional reported case of E. coli O157:H7 illness was found to have the same strain of E. coli as one found in a recalled product. However, the case could not be definitively linked to the outbreak associated with this investigation because there was not enough food history information available to connect the individual with the contaminated product. This individual died in early December as a result of the illness.