Posted: October 26th, 2007 - 10:00pm by Doug Powell

The multistate outbreak of E. coli O157:H7 infections linked to the Topps Meat Company has been traced back to a defunct Alberta company that apparently provided beef trim to Topps.

At this point, there is just (collaborative -- ha) competing press releases from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The Americans say,

that on October 25, the CFIA provided FSIS with PFGE patterns, or DNA fingerprints, from tests of beef trim from a Canadian firm, Ranchers Beef, Ltd., Canadian establishment number 630. This firm provided trim to the Topps Meat Company. While the firm, which had been located in Balzac, Alberta, ceased operations on August 15, 2007, some product remained in storage and was collected and tested by CFIA as part of the joint investigation of the Topps recall and as part of CFIA's own investigation into 45 illnesses in Canada from E. coli O157:H7.

Today, PulseNet provided verification to FSIS that this PFGE pattern matched those from patients who were ill and from positive tests conducted by the New York Department of Health on product (both intact packages and open packages from patients' homes) that was later recalled by the Topps Meat Company on September 29. PulseNet is the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) searchable database of all PFGE patterns from patients and food products in the United States.

As of October 26, CDC reported 40 illnesses under investigation in 8 states, with 21 known hospitalizations. The latest onset of illness is September 24, 2007. This summer was the first time this rare PFGE pattern had been seen in North America.

The Canadian version said that

 the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) and the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) are currently investigating possible linkages between E. coli cases that occurred earlier this summer in Canada.  The Canadians didn't even mention the company. Might be bad for business -- except the company is already defunct.

The investigation is examining 45 cases of E. coli O157:H7 that were found in New Brunswick, Quebec, Saskatchewan, Ontario and British Columbia. These cases were previously reported from July to September, 2007. As a result of these cases, eleven people were hospitalized and one elderly individual died.

There are lots of questions here. My guess is that CFIA didn't figure the cases were linked till someone uploaded the PFGEs to PulseNet -- run by the Americans -- and the Americans said, uh, you've got an outbreak linked to the same source. And the only reason CFIA went public today, at it's usual 6 p.m. Eastern time on Friday, when lots have people have gone off for the weekend, is because the Americans said we're going public. We have too. Canada doesn't. 45 sick people linked and 1 dead and this is the first public comment from CFIA. Hopeless.

But maybe I'm wrong. I look forward to thorough public disclosure from CFIA.

And of course, CFIA had to go and say,

Canadians are reminded that a number of simple steps should be taken when cooking with ground beef to reduce the likelihood of E. coli. Specifically, thoroughly cooking the meat and using safe handling practices can reduce the risk of illness.

Food safety isn't simple, or there wouldn't be so many sick people.

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