E-coli in Winnipeg Manitoba

Focus of E. coli investigation shifts to Man. slaughter house and Alta. farm

01.sep.06
Winnipeg Free Press/Winnipeg Sun/CP Wire/CBC

WINNIPEG - Health officials are, according to these stories, focusing on a Manitoba slaughterhouse and an Alberta farm as the possible source for an E. coli outbreak that made dozens of people sick.
Pierre Plourde, medical officer with the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority, was cited as saying Friday that Manitoba Health and Public Health Canada are investigating two of the suppliers for a Winnipeg butcher shop which epidemiologists have linked with 24 cases of illness.
Plourde said the shop has been cleared of wrongdoing and officials are now looking for the ultimate source of the potentially deadly bacteria.
Epidemiologists say 24 of the 40 cases of people who got sick from E. coli bacteria this summer can be traced to Dutch Meat Market, or three hamburger stands in the city that got their meat there.
Fourteen people who have become sick since June had to be taken to hospital, including two being treated in intensive care for blood problems and kidney failure.
Plourde said no E. coli-infected meat was actually found at Dutch Meat Market, but infected meat was located at one of the restaurants.
Dozens of other restaurants and grocers which were also named by patients suffering from the infection have been cleared, Plourde said.
He did not identify the slaughterhouse or the farm which are now under investigation.
DNA testing suggests all the patients have been infected with the same strain of E. coli O157.
Grant Stefanson, a lawyer for the owners of Dutch Meat Market, was cited as saying the store didn't know the meat was contaminated and got it from federally-regulated sources, adding, "(Our) meat's probably the safest in the city now, since they've been through here with a fine-toothed comb.

Eateries fear ugly backlash

03.sep.06
Winnipeg Sun
Chris Kitching

Winnipeg burger joints that unknowingly sold E. coli-contaminated beef from an outside source are, according to this tory, worried the publicity will turn people away from their food.
Three restaurants are backed by health officials and lengthy inspections that cleared them of wrongdoing and deemed them safe, allowing them to stay open for business.
Steve Mikos, who owns Mrs. Mike's on Tache Avenue, was quoted as saying, "I didn't do anything wrong but I'm worried because I don't know how people are going to take it. But I feel like my customers are fairly confident with my food and service."
The story says that 
Mrs. Mike's, Dairi-Wip Drive-In on Marion Street, and VJ's Drive-In on Main Street get their ground beef from Dutch Meat Market, a butcher shop that was also cleared during inspections.
Owners of the meat store believe the source of the bad beef may be traced to one of its suppliers -- a Manitoba slaughterhouse or Alberta farm.
Dutch Meat Market was cited in the outbreak because it's a common link in the chain. Twenty-four food-poisoning cases in August are related to the store or burger joints.

WRHA seeks clues in E. coli mystery

05.sep.06
The Winnipeg Sun/ CBC News

The Winnipeg Regional Health Authority, according to this story, wants to hear from people who may have bought contaminated meat last month.
Health officials are trying to identify the source -- or sources -- of contaminated ground beef that ended up at a St. Boniface deli.
E. coli infection cases skyrocketed in August with 40 cases, including 30 recorded in the first two weeks alone. The WRHA said in more than 20 cases, the infected person bought or ate ground beef from Dutch Meat Market or one of three Winnipeg restaurants it sells meat to.
Anyone who has frozen ground beef purchased from Dutch Meat Market during the first two weeks of August is asked to call 788-8004. 
WRHA spokeswoman Heidi Graham was quoted as saying, "We're hoping that they will call us so that we can pick it up and test it because that may help us identify the initial source of the ground beef. So far, we have received 36 calls."
Graham was further cited as saying that even when meat is contaminated, proper food handling will prevent E. coli infection and that food-handling deficiencies were identified during inspections of the three restaurants, adding, "If the meat in question had been properly handled and fully cooked, and the proper hygiene procedures followed, the infections would not have occurred."
The restaurants were told to correct the problems, said Graham, and subsequent surprise inspections showed they had. Ongoing monitoring of all three restaurants will continue.
Grant Stefanson, the lawyer for Dutch Meat Market in St. Boniface, was cited as saying Monday that his client may take legal action against the supplier, adding, "They'd have to first of all see if they have suffered any damages. And then if they have, they could consider recourse against the entity that was responsible for the problem, no question."
Dutch Meat Market distributed ground beef to several local restaurants and burger joints in the first two weeks of August. Meat was also sold to food retail outlets and individual customers.
Four people are currently in hospital, with two in critical condition, and 14 people have had to be hospitalized since June.

Winnipeg restaurant closed in E. coli outbreak

05.sep.06
CBC News
http://www.cbc.ca/Canada/manitoba/story/2006/09/05/ecoli-georges.html

A Winnipeg burger restaurant has been closed after a recent E. coli outbreak in the city.
George's Burgers and Subs on Henderson Highway was one of the restaurants that purchased its meat from the Dutch Meat Market in St. Boniface.
On Friday, Winnipeg health authorities said that meat contaminated with E. coli had been traced to the butcher shop.
While the Dutch Meat Market and several burger restaurants have now been given a clean bill of health from authorities, George's Burgers and Subs did not pass a second inspection.