The Largest E. Coli Outbreak in Alberta History

As a parent, one of the hardest things to undergo is seeing your child battle an illness. For hundreds of Calgary-area families, the impact of the largest E. coli outbreak in our province’s history has been overwhelming.

At the time of writing, there have been 25 hospitalizations stemming from E. coli infection. Nearly two dozen inflections have escalated into Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (HUS). Alberta Health Services describes HUS as “a complication of STEC (E. coli) that affects the blood and kidneys. Children under five years of age are at the highest risk. Approximately 15% of children with STEC (E. coli) diarrhea develop HUS and 50% of those children may require dialysis.”

According to Public Health Canada, our country typically sees around 474 cases of E. coli infections each year from coast to coast to coast. In a little more than one week, Alberta has seen north of 300 cases on its own – the vast majority of which have impacted children attending daycare centres in Calgary.

Some of the children that have had their infection escalate to HUS have required dialysis to support their kidneys.

While the exact source of the outbreak has yet to be determined conclusively by health officials, a kitchen that provides food to multiple daycare centres is believed to be the source. The kitchen, Fueling Minds, was reported to have failed a health inspection earlier this month.

The kitchen had also been issued multiple citations dating back to July 27, 2021.

Violations noted in the September 5th inspection are numerous, including cold food being out of temperature control for more than 90 minutes, two live adult cockroaches in the dishwashing area (in addition to “at least 20 cockroaches on the sticky pads” found by both of two tin cat traps), and improper storage of a probe thermometer.

A release from Fueling Minds reads "this has been a very difficult time for the Fueling Brains community. We remain focused on supporting our kids, families and staff during this very difficult time and are committed to determining the cause of the outbreak and will implement any changes in our operations and processes that are required."

Former Liberal MP and Alberta Liberal MLA Kent Hehr is the vice president of Fueling Brains, the daycare company that has “similar ownership” to the Fueling Minds kitchen (though they also provide food to other daycares and operate independently.)

Chief Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Mark Joffe, said that "our physicians, our nurses, our lab staff and other front-line providers are all working around the clock to provide the very best care to their patients.”

This week, he participated in his first press conference as the Chief Medical Officer of Health since taking the office in 2022 following his predecessor’s termination. Following the presser, he issued a clarification of a statement he made, saying “we didn't feel that there was urgency to do that until this point” when asked why it took government a week to speak.

“We understand and appreciate there is a high level of public interest in the situation. However, our focus has been the affected children and the investigation. The priority was first and foremost getting people looked after and then to provide the public with a fulsome update on the situation.”

Premier Danielle Smith posted her condolences on social media, saying “I’m sending my thoughts and prayers to all the children who’ve contracted E. coli in the recent outbreak. My heart also goes out to the families of these little ones. Thank you to all the frontline workers who’ve been working tirelessly to treat and care for these children.”

According to the Alberta Health Services website, the eleven daycare centres that were closed due to an E. coli outbreak have had their exclusion orders rescinded this early last week.

The official opposition has publicly called for a full inquiry into the outbreak.