Health officials in Canada and the United States have discovered that five cases of E. coli O157:H7 in southern California, South Dakota and New Jersey carry the same genetic fingerprint as 21 confirmed E. coli cases in southeastern Ontario.>
The Canadian cases are located in a close-knit geographical area around the towns of Halton, Niagara and Waterloo. Dr. Bob Nosal, medical officer of health for Halton, told The Hamilton Spectator newspaper on Monday that five U.S. cases have been identified as having the same genetic code.
"In Ontario, the cases are quite close geographically,'' Nosal said. "So when you get something that rare showing up in the U.S., you really wonder -- is it possibly linked?''
Among the agencies studing the connection are the Ontario Ministry of Health, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.
In the Ontario outbreak, officials are still to determine the cause. More than 90 additional cases of illness are under investigation as part of the probe. Earlier this week, Dr. Robin Williams, Niagara's chief medical officer of health, said tainted lettuce could be the source.
In Halton, four confirmed cases of the potentially deadly pathogen, are believed to be linked to the same family restaurant in Burlington, officials have said. The restaurant was shut down, but reopened this week after complying with health department orders.
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