Beef sample tested for E. coli strain in outbreak

6/25/2008

A ground beef sample with E. coli is being tested by the Ohio Department of Health to determine whether it genetically matches a two-state outbreak that has affected more than 25 people, including a 27-year-old Lucas County woman and a Seneca County resident.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed yesterday that outbreaks of the E. coli O157:H7 strain in Ohio and Michigan are linked epidemiologically and genetically. Ohio has 17 confirmed cases, two of which are probably linked.

One of the victims provided a ground beef sample that tested positive for E. coli O157:H7 at an Ohio Department of Agriculture lab.

It was forwarded to the state health department lab for genetic fingerprinting, the health department said.