Ohio and Michigan E. coli Cases Linked, Ground Beef Recall May Be Source

Health officials have linked the E. coli cases in Ohio to the ones in Michigan, saying some of the cases match up genetically, suggesting the infections came from the same source. Health officials suspect contaminated ground beef is behind the illnesses, according to the Associated Press.

The number of central Ohio cases has reached 15, and 11 of those cases are genetically linked.. The cases also match two elsewhere in Ohio and nine in Michigan, where health officials have implicated ground beef but have not named a source.

The Columbus Dispatch reports that the vice president of a New Jersey hamburger plant said that officials are exploring whether the Ohio and Michigan illnesses are linked to a recall by his company this month. The vice president of a New Jersey hamburger plant said that officials are exploring whether the Ohio and Michigan illnesses are linked to a recall by his company this month.

Dutch’s Meat recalled 13,275 pounds of hamburger on June 8 after discovering that it might have been tainted with the sometimes-lethal bacteria. None of that meat left New Jersey, said Vice President Al Granaldi. No illnesses were connected with Dutch’s products. However, Dutch’s gets its meat from three or four suppliers. If the strains match, it’s possible that one of those companies sold him tainted meat and also distributed that meat to Ohio, Michigan and elsewhere, he said. Granaldi would not name a meat supplier but said that one in the Midwest might be the source.

That outbreak has sickened at least 29 people in Michigan and hospitalized five people there. Six Ohioans have been hospitalized.