It was the onions

Officials with the North Bay Parry Sound District Health Unit held a media conference this morning where they released the Investigative Summary of the E-coli Outbreak associated with Harvey’s Restaurant on Algonquin Avenue October 12th.

The report, produced in collaboration with the Public Health Agency of Canada, looks at the methodology and outcomes of the epidemiological, laboratory and environmental components of the outbreak that closed the restaurant for one month.

Dr Chirico says while all food testing and environmental samples came back negative through the process of elimination all roads lead to the likelihood that it was a garnish that led to 50 confirmed cases of the illness.

“Our investigation indicates the source of the outbreak at Harvey’s was likely contaminated raw Spanish onions,” said Dr. Jim Chirico, Acting Medical Officer of Health for the North Bay Parry Sound District Health Unit.

“However, we were not able to confirm how they became contaminated despite thorough environmental testing, food sampling, trace back investigation and testing of staff.”

Officials also said it is very common, with this type of outbreak, that the source is never identified, one reason being that E. coli symptoms can appear anywhere from one to ten days after the contaminated food was eaten, and often the source is gone by the time people show symptoms.

“This was a very large outbreak and I credit the many staff of the Health Unit as well as our partners for limiting the spread of this outbreak,” said Dr. Chirico. “This does not discount the suffering of those who became ill or were affected by this E. coli outbreak.”