Beef Suspected in Three Ohio <EM>E. coli</EM> Cases

Three Cuyahoga County residents have become ill from a strain of E. coli that public health officials suspect is linked to beef products from a processor in Illinois.

Valley Meats of Coal Valley, Ill., on Thursday recalled nearly 96,000 pounds of frozen ground beef patties and refrigerated loose ground beef that had been distributed to wholesalers for sale to restaurants and other food service operations.

Kristopher Weiss, spokesman for the Ohio Department of Health, said three illnesses from the bacteria E. coli 0157:H7 occurred in April. Testing revealed that the E. coli that made all three sick had a matching genetic fingerprint.

When those test results came back on May 13, the state reported them to the U.S. Department of Agriculture Food Safety and Inspection Service, which began its own investigation. Other matching illnesses have been identified in Pennsylvania and Illinois.

Weiss said the Ohio victims — a 3-year-old girl, a 24-year-old man and a 71-year-old man — became ill between April 11 and 14. Two of them were hospitalized, and all three have since recovered.

Arendt said federal health investigators inspected the two establishments and took samples of the meat products eaten by the victims.

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Source: Ohio.com