One death likely linked to E. coli outbreak in Edmonton, health officials say

One person has died and 11 others were sent to hospital as Alberta Health Services expands its investigation into the source of a recent outbreak of E. coliin Edmonton.

The number of lab-confirmed cases of E. coli O157:H7 has increased to 34, including 11 patients who required hospital care, AHS said Friday in a news release.

• E. coli outbreak linked to Filipino restaurant in southeast Edmonton

The health authority said it no longer has public health concerns related to Mama Nita's Binalot restaurant, though 21 of the lab-confirmed cases werelinked to the restaurant since the E. colioutbreak surfaced in late March.

Nora Romero was diagnosed with E. coliafter eating food at the restaurant.

She saidshe doesn't know the person who died but was shocked to hear the news.

"That's unbelievable," she said. "I feel sorry for the family. Thank God that I passed through that but it was horrible, horrible pain and disgusting and I don't want to go through... that thing ever, ever again."

AHS said it's also investigating 13 lab-confirmed cases that have no known links to thatrestaurant.

"Although today we do not have a grip on a specific source, we have various leads that we're exploring with rigour," said Dr. Jasmine Hasselback,medical officer of health for the Edmonton zone.

AHSsaid they believe the latest casesare linked to the initial outbreak.

The health authority didn'tprovide further details about the male who "died likely due to E. coliinfection," but said hiscase wasn'tlinked to food from the restaurant.

Hasselback said the risk of illness is low, though the number of confirmedE. coli infections is higher than normal. AHSis working with several partners,including the Public Health Agency of Canada, to find the source of the bacteria.

"When we have this scale of foodborne illness, there's a lot of parties that need to be at the table so that we can find the source as quickly as possible, control itand bring that risk back down to baseline," Hasselbacksaid.

Anyone who has symptoms of E. coli should contact Health Link by dialing 811. The predominant symptom is diarrhea, which may be bloody. In severe forms of the disease, a form of kidney failure can develop.

Symptoms usually start one to 10 days after eating food contaminated with E. coli bacteria. Children, the elderly and people with compromised immune systems are at greater risk of complications from this strain of E. coli, AHS said.

The owners of Mama Nita's Binalotworked closely with the health authority after officials learned that a cluster of people with lab-confirmed illnesses had eaten at the restaurant, AHSsaid.

"The owners have taken significant steps to manage this issue, including voluntarily closing until AHS was confident the restaurant could reopen without presenting a risk to the public," AHS said.

Public health staff and the restaurant owner and staff have increased safety measures, AHS said, including increased hand washing, food safety re-education for staff, some minor renovations, and closely monitoring food handling practices.

E. coli infections are generally caused when a person eats food or drinks water that is contaminated with human or animal feces, or through direct contact with someone who is sick.