September 2, 2008 MONTREAL, Quebec (AP) -- A provincial health official says that an unusually high number of people have fallen ill with salmonella food poisoning across Quebec.
Horacio Arruda, a director with Quebec's public health department, said Friday that 87 cases of salmonellosis have been reported and one death has been linked to the outbreak.
He said that there were as many cases in one week this month in the eastern province than there are during the average year.
The bacteria can cause diarrhea, fever and vomiting. The Food and Agriculture Ministry has issued recalls of some brands of cheese that are a suspected source of the outbreak.
The Food and Agriculture Ministry has issued recalls of three different types of cheese throughout the province that are a suspected source of the salmonella outbreak. Spokesman Guy Auclair said the salmonella outbreak is not connected to a recent listeria outbreak in Canada linked to the 15 deaths.
A recent salmonella outbreak in the United States sickened at least 1,440 people.
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