Calgary daycares hit by E. coli outbreak could be shut down for another week

An official for six Calgary daycares closed due to an E. coli outbreak says a deep cleaning of the facilities could take up to a week.

Alberta Health Services said Tuesday there were 56 lab-confirmed cases linked to the outbreak including up to 50 children arriving at hospitals.

AHS said the number of people hospitalized has increased to 15, up from the 12 it had reported on Monday.

Six of the Fueling Brains daycare sites were issued a closure order until issues are resolved.

As well, AHS reported five additional sites that share a central kitchen are also part of the outbreak.

“All 11 daycare sites in the Calgary area have been issued a closure order until issues are resolved,” AHS said in a statement.

“Families with children attending any of the above locations have been sent letters advising of the outbreak and are being asked to monitor for symptoms.”

In a statement, Lois Garcia, the vice-president of operations for Fueling Brains, said a thorough cleaning of the facilities could take anywhere from two days to a week.

“Our deepest concerns and empathy are with every affected family, child, and staff member during this challenging period,” Garcia wrote.

“We are rigorously searching for any common factors leading to this outbreak. Additionally, we’ve closed our Calgary schools for deep cleaning, which is estimated to last between 48 hours to one week.”

Diarrhea, which may be bloody, is the predominant symptom associated with E. coli. Symptoms usually start one to 10 days after eating food contaminated with the E. coli bacteria.

AHS said the majority of people who get sick from E. coli generally improve on their own and without specific treatment within 10 days, but a proportion may develop more severe complications.