Word: walkerton
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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Thanks to the infamous, less-than-stellar beef preparation by the folks who supplied the Jack-in-the-Box fast-food chain, most of us tend to think of E. coli as the hamburger disease. But as this week?s fatal outbreak of the illness in Walkerton, Ontario proves, there are other ways E. coli can foist itself on humans: Contaminated water, for example. Friday, Walkerton police launched a criminal probe into the cause of the local epidemic, which is blamed thus far for 5 deaths and hundreds of cases of illness. Doctors worry the death toll...
...Since water can also carry the bacteria with alarming ease, Walkerton?s disastrous encounter with the illness serves as a terrifying nudge into a state of vigilance. In the case of water-borne outbreaks, people become infected after coming into contact with swimming or drinking water that?s been contaminated with sewage and/or human or animal fecal matter. With that delightful image in mind, doctors recommend taking the following precautions around water: Avoid swallowing lake or pool water when swimming; do everyone a favor and don?t swim when you are having gastrointestinal issues; keep children who wear diapers...