In August, an outbreak of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli O:157 (STEC) infections sickened more than 70 people, resulting in nine deaths and impacting 11 long-term care facilities in Belgium. Raw ground beef is the probable vehicle of illness.

According to the Belgian Federal Agency for the Safety of the Food Chain (FASFC), epidemiological and traceback evidence pointed to ground/minced beef as the likely cause of the outbreak. Beef from the same batch was served in all of the nursing homes involved in the outbreak, located in Flanders, Wallonia, and Brussels.

No samples of the implicated meat were available for laboratory analysis and confirmation, but more than 70 different products from the care facilities and their supply chain were tested.

The Brussels Public Prosecutor’s office has opened an investigation into the outbreak to determine the supplier’s possible culpability.