96 Cases Linked to E.coli Outbreak at Calgary Daycares: AHS

Alberta Health Services (AHS) says there are now 96 lab-confirmed cases linked to the E.coli outbreak in Calgary Daycares as of Wednesday.

More children have been hospitalized due to the outbreak. Dr. Francesco Rizzuti, medical officer of health with AHS confirmed that 22 children have been hospitalized thus far. Of those hospitalized, 16 are at the Alberta Children’s Hospital and the rest at the Peter Lougheed Centre.

According to Dr. Rizzuti, a “handful” of the hospitalized children have developed the Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (HUS), but they are in stable condition. Dr. Rizzuti added that patients were being monitored closely.

“We have dedicated teams of specialists focused on diagnosing and supporting any children who present to the emergency room or may need to be admitted”, said Dr. Rizzuti.

The source of the outbreak is still not identified, but investigation is ongoing and parents will be notified as information becomes available, says AHS.

The six fueling Brains Academy locations in Calgary and five other sites will remain closed until the issue is resolved. Stool sample collection kits have been provided to all of the daycares for parents and children, to test for E.coli.

AHS has created a website to help parents whose children were at these daycares or may be suffering from E.coli infection.

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