Alberta government to address Calgary’s E. coli outbreak as cases climb to 231

The province is set to address a growing health concern in Calgary that’s already sent more than two dozen people, most of them children, to hospital.

Health Minister Adriana LaGrange, along with Children and Family Services Minister Searle Turton and Alberta’s Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Mark Joffe, will join other health officials in Calgary to speak about current E. coli outbreak in Calgary.

The media conference is expected to share details about what the province is doing to address the situation.

Earlier this month, it was discovered that several children and staff members at several Calgary daycares had become infected with E. coli.

It’s not clear what food item was the source of the outbreak, but officials have traced it to a central kitchen called Fuelling Minds that provided meals to all the affected facilities.

As of Monday evening, there are 231 lab-confirmed cases of E. coli and 25 children and one adult have been hospitalized.

Twenty-one of the patients have been diagnosed with hemolytic uremic syndrome or HUS, a severe illness that can lead to kidney failure.

Five daycares remain closed while six were allowed to reopen.

Several others are expected to open on Tuesday.

The conference is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m.