E. coli outbreak linked to pork is over, AHS says

An E. coli outbreak linked to pork products that made 42 people sick is officially over, Alberta Health Services declared Friday.

The outbreak was first announced in late March, and was initially associated with Mama Nita’s Binalot restaurant in south Edmonton.

However, additional cases came to light over the next several weeks that were not connected to the establishment, forcing public health investigators to widen their search for the source.

In late April, the cause of the outbreak was eventually tracked to The Meat Shop at Pine Haven, a meat-processing plant on a Hutterite colony near Wetaskiwin. The operation has distributed meat to a number of businesses in the Edmonton area, including Mama Nita’s.

AHS said it is aware of 42 cases

of poisoning from E. coli O157:H7, including 13 people who needed to be hospitalized and one death likely linked to the bug.

The health authority said there is a possibility more cases could crop up in the future if consumers still have tainted products from Pine Haven in their freezers. Anyone unsure about a specific product is asked to check the list of recalls on the website of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.

The Pine Haven operation has been allowed to reopen after the plant was found to be free of any trace of E. coli.