COLUMBUS — Ohio departments of health and agriculture confirmed June 25 that a raw ground beef sample provided by an Ohio E. coli O157:H7 case is linked by genetic fingerprinting to the multistate outbreak in Ohio and Michigan.
Test results released Wednesday verify the E. coli present in the beef sample shares the same genetic fingerprint with the bacteria that has sickened 19 Ohioans in recent weeks.
Information submitted with the positive beef sample indicates the product was purchased at the Kroger Marketplace in Gahanna.
Beef purchased from other sources may also be tainted.
The Ohio Department of Agriculture is working closely with the USDA to perform a traceback investigation to find the source of this ground beef.
A second sample, purchased by a consumer from a Kroger in Fairfield County, was sent to the Ohio Department of Agriculture Consumer Analytical Lab in Reynoldsburg and tested negative for E. coli O157:H7. No further tests were necessary.
The Ohio Department of Health and local health departments in six counties continue to investigate 19 Ohio cases of E. coli O157:H7 that have been linked genetically and epidemiologically to cases in Michigan.
The 19 cases being investigated are in Franklin (nine confirmed, two probable), Delaware (one confirmed), Fairfield (four confirmed), Lucas (one confirmed), Seneca (one confirmed) and Union (one confirmed) cases.
What you can do to avoid food-borne illness, like E coli.
