Canadian health officials have included a second death in their national probe of a listeriosis outbreak possibly linked to contaminated deli meat from Toronto, UPI reported. David Williams, Ontario's chief medical officer of health, said Thursday he was working with federal officials into the source of the food-borne Listeria monocytogenes bacterium that sickened at least 16 people across the country, the Globe and Mail reported. Also Thursday, a health official in Peterborough, Ontario, northeast of Toronto, said an elderly resident in a nursing home had died from listeriosis. Last weekend, Maple Leaf Foods closed its Toronto processing plant and issued a recall for more than 20 brands of packaged cooked meats. Williams said it's likely that was the source of contamination but stressed more testing was needed and "there is no definitive link between the outbreak and the product at this time."
