Tainted deli meats in Canada kill 12

0 Comments | AFP, August, 2008

OTTAWA (AFP) — The death toll from an outbreak linked to contaminated deli meats in Canada rose to 12 Monday, with several other people sickened, health officials said.

The Public Health Agency of Canada said 26 cases of listeriosis were confirmed nationally, including 11 deaths in Ontario province, and one death in westernmost British Columbia.

An additional 29 cases have been diagnosed, but the strains were not yet linked in laboratory tests to a Toronto area facility at the center of the outbreak.

"We fully expect that both the number of suspected and confirmed cases will increase as this investigation continues and samples continue to be tested," Agriculture and Agri-Food Minister Gerry Ritz told a press conference.

On August 19, the Canadian...