O Canada – What’s Up?

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Salmonella: The Public Health Agency of Canada issued a news release this week announcing that 110 Canadians have been sickened by the Reading strain of salmonella.

There have, however, been no product recalls issued by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.

“Based on the investigation findings to date, exposure to raw turkey and raw chicken products has been identified as the likely source of the outbreak,” the Public Health Agency said, adding that outbreaks are continuing.

“Many of the individuals who became sick reported eating different types of turkey and chicken products before they fell ill,” the agency said.

There have been 26 people sickened in British Columbia, 36 in Alberta, 24 in Manitoba and seven in Ontario and one each in Quebec, the Northwest Territories and New Brunswick plus six in Nunavit.

Whole-genome sequencing linked all of these cases, which showed up between Apr. 2017 and Aug. 2019.

Thirty-two people were treated in hospitals and one died.

E. coli: The Department of Health and Community Services says there is an E. coli outbreak in the province after confirming 22 cases of it within one week.

Public health officials within the department, as well as the regional health authorities are working with Service NL to investigate, according to a news release issued Friday afternoon.

Dr. Janice Fitzgerald, the province’s Chief Medical Officer of Health, said the first known cases were reported in eastern Newfoundland — and some were students at Memorial University in St. John’s — though she said it’s not clear if that’s where the outbreak began.

“The majority are concentrated in eastern [Newfoundland]. We do have cases in central and western,” Fitzgerald said Friday afternoon.

Republished with permission from Bill Marler and Marler Clark. Copyright (c) Marler Clark LLP, PS. All rights reserved.