Aisne: E. coli food poisoning: link to several butcher shops confirmed

Suspicions have been confirmed in the case of E. coli food poisoning in the Aisne region . Analyses have confirmed the link with several of the suspected butcher shops, the prefecture announced on Wednesday.

The first results of the genomic sequencing of the bacteria "provide irrefutable proof of a correspondence between the bacteria found in several butcher shops or in the meat they sold and the bacteria found in several patients," the prefecture said in a press release.

This establishes "a formal biological link between the place of supply and the contamination of the patients." Among the 30 cases recorded, a figure unchanged since the previous day, are a 73-year-old person and 29 children, including Élise, who died on June 16 at the age of 11. The prefecture had indicated Tuesday evening that "the health of the infected people is improving," with four remaining hospitalized.

Six butcher shops had been closed as a precaution; only one was able to reopen. Testing will continue "for all butcher shops" that remain closed and for all cases identified, the prefecture continued. The results "have been communicated to the Paris prosecutor's office in charge of the judicial investigation, which will help identify those responsible," the prefecture added.