{"id":24358,"date":"2025-07-26T01:09:09","date_gmt":"2025-07-26T01:09:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/24358\/"},"modified":"2025-07-26T01:09:09","modified_gmt":"2025-07-26T01:09:09","slug":"some-diners-test-positive-for-rare-parasite-after-eating-at-popular-calgary-area-restaurant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/24358\/","title":{"rendered":"Some diners test positive for rare parasite after eating at popular Calgary-area restaurant"},"content":{"rendered":"

Alberta Health Services says there have been 235 people identified with symptoms of gastrointestinal illness<\/a> \u2014 including 18 lab-confirmed cases of E. coli \u2014 after dining at the Saskatoon Farm, a popular Calgary-area restaurant about 20 minutes southeast of the city, earlier this month.<\/p>\n

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AHS says two of those people have been hospitalized, although one has since been discharged.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis E. coli<\/a> that has been presumptively identified is an E.coli that\u2019s not normally found in treated drinking water \u2014 and if we see it, it\u2019s often a sign of some sort of contamination,\u201d said AHS Medical Officer of Health Dr. Francesco Rizzuti, in a late Friday afternoon press conference.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt can lead to gastrointestinal illness.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rizzuti said three of the people who have tested positive for E. coli have also tested positive for a parasite called entamoa histolytitica<\/a>, which can cause a severe gastrointestinal illness called amoebiasis<\/a> weeks to months after infection.<\/p>\n

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While so far nobody has tested positive for amoebiasis<\/a>, Rizutti said, \u201cin some severe cases (it) can lead to other infections outside of the stomach and GI tract \u2014 so\u00a0 heart, liver, lungs, very rare, but we do know it can happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Some of these are not immediate symptoms, but they can lead to serious illness, added Rizzuti.<\/p>\n

As a result, AHS will be asking more people to get tested, in case they have been infected by the parasite. Specifically, anyone who ate or consumed water or beverages at the restaurant between July 1 and 16, 2025 are being asked to call Healthlink (811)<\/a> for more information , even if they haven\u2019t developed any symptoms of illness.<\/p>\n

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That testing will take place after July 30 and Rizzuti said more information will be provided next week.<\/p>\n

AHS investigators have identified the farm\u2019s water system as the likely source of the outbreak.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we understand is that \u2026 there were some complaints of maybe unusual taste to the water around July 15 of 16,\u201d said Rizzuti.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re continuing to investigate a number of samples \u2014 really trying to understand exactly what it is \u2014 but from what we\u2019ve understood from talking with the site, interviews with these 235 individuals, the common thread that continues to come up is consumption of beverages, water, or food that was produced with water from that contaminated cistern.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\t\tThe Saskatoon Farm is located a 20 minute drive southeast of Calgary and is a popular destination for Saskatoon berry picking, a farmers market and restaurant.\t\t\t\t <\/p>\n

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The farm has since switched its water system to a different source and Rizzuti said testing by AHS has confirmed there is no contamination and it is safe for consumption.<\/p>\n

However, he said there is ongoing testing being done and the facility will remain closed until AHS public health inspectors and medical officers of health determine there is no ongoing risk to the public.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe reopening plan is contingent on ensuring that there\u2019s a safe water supply \u2014 a sustainable water supply,\u201d said Rizzuti.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s also asking anyone else who has been experiencing symptoms of gastrointestinal illness, such as nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain or diarrhea, to call Healthlink at 811<\/a> or their family health care provider immediately.<\/p>\n

\n\t\t&copy 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Alberta Health Services says there have been 235 people identified with symptoms of gastrointestinal illness \u2014 including 18…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":24359,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[49,48,19762,84,44,17224],"class_list":["post-24358","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-canada","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-e-coli-outbreak","tag-health","tag-news","tag-saskatoon-farm"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24358","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24358"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24358\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24359"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24358"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24358"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24358"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}