Moyer Packing Co. of Souderton, Pa., is recalling some 346,700 pounds of ground beef that may be contaminated with potentially deadly E. coli bacteria, the Agriculture Department said Saturday.

In Milwaukee, the city’s health commissioner says officials will investigate whether the meat being recalled might be linked to an E. coli infection in southeastern Wisconsin that apparently has caused illnesses and a death.

The MOPAC brand ground beef was produced on July 11 and packaged in 5- and 10-pound packages that bear the plant establishment number 1311 and the date 07/11/00. They were distributed to wholesalers in Connecticut, Delaware, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Wisconsin.

USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service said the meat may have been reground and distributed and sold to retailers. The contamination was discovered in routine testing.

E. coli O157:H7 bacteria can cause bloody diarrhea and dehydration and can be fatal in people with weakened immune systems. USDA said it has received no reports of illnesses from consumption of the ground beef.

Connection to Wisconsin Outbreak?

But Milwaukee Health Commissioner Seth Foldy says “genetic fingerprinting” of the E. coli in southeastern Wisconsin and in the Moyer beef should tell whether there’s a connection.
Foldy said yesterday that the number of cases in the Milwaukee area connected to a Sizzler restaurant had grown to 30. One person, 3-year-old Brianna Kriefall of South Milwaukee, died Friday. Officials say she developed E. coli-related complications known as hemolytic uremic syndrome, which attacks red blood cells and causes kidney failure.

Oregon Recall

In an E. coli incident apparently unconnected to the Moyer recall, an Albertson’s supermarket in Portland, Ore. has voluntarily recalled 50 pounds of ground beef that may be contaminated with the disease.

The beef was packaged in various sizes and produced on July 24. The packages sold at the South East 82nd Avenue location under the Albertson’s supermarket name and are labeled as extra lean ground beef. No reports of illness have been received thus far.

Canadian E. Coli Outbreak

Earlier this week in Halifax, Nova Scotia, E. coli sent a 6-year-old boy and an 80-year-old woman to hospital. Both are confirmed cases of the type of E. coli that can be fatal.
The woman is not critically ill, but officials have not released any information about the boy’s condition. They brought to four the number of E. coli cases in the Halifax-Dartmouth area last week.
Before those latest cases, the bacterial infection made 16 Nova Scotians ill, beginning in late June.
Health officials don’t know whether the cases are related.

E. coli can be spread through undercooked ground beef, contaminated fruits and vegetables, unpasteurized fruit juice, milk and cheese, and infected water. But infected water has been ruled out as a source in Nova Scotia.