Ontario officials check for unreported E. coli deaths

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ASSOCIATED PRESS 
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TORONTO

Ontario's coroner urged the public Wednesday to notify authorities if they think anyone who died in the last two weeks exhibited symptoms of E. coli infection, thought so far to have killed as many as nine people.
The call followed the latest deaths this week -- two patients who had been hospitalized with the intestinal bacteria, which causes cramps, diarrhea, nausea, fever and, in extreme cases, kidney failure.

Ontario Premier Mike Harris announced a public inquiry into the water contamination in Walkerton, a rural community of 5,000 people located 90 miles west of Toronto, amid allegations that officials failed to warn residents promptly.

Health officials have confirmed six adults and a 2-year-old child have died from the contamination.

Dr. Jim Cairns, deputy chief coroner in Ontario, said his office was investigating those deaths and whether two others that occurred on May 15 and May 19, before any public warning of the contamination, were related to E. coli.

More than 20 people remain hospitalized, including one considered terminally ill, and as many as 1,000 have been sickened in and around Walkerton over the past two weeks from the E. coli that infiltrated the water supply.

The two latest fatalities, on Monday and Tuesday, were adults at hospitals in Walkerton and London, Ontario, where some victims in critical condition were airlifted.

Dr. James Young, the province's chief coroner, asked Walkerton residents to notify authorities if they think anyone who died in the past few weeks may have exhibited symptoms associated with E. coli contamination.

The cause of the contamination remains unknown, but officials suspect flooding that followed a heavy storm on May 12 may have caused E. coli bacteria on animal manure to enter the Walkerton wells.

A report on tests for E. coli in the Walkerton water was due Wednesday and would be released Friday, said Terry Flynn, a spokesman for the municipality. 

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