There are fewer restaurants open in Ontario due to E coli outbreaks.   Add M.T. Bellies in Welland to the list that already includes the Little Red Rooster restaurant in Niagara-on-the-Lake and Harvey’s in North Bay–all closed because they are associated with ongoing E coli outbreaks.

The Canwest News Service reports that:

Health officials in the Niagara region are investigating eight new cases of E. coli infection, bringing to 31 the number of people suspected of having been sickened by the food-borne bacterium.

Eighteen of the currently suspected cases have been linked to the Little Red Rooster restaurant in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont., and nine cases are connected to M.T. Bellies in Welland, Ont., Niagara Region Public Health officials said Thursday.

The remaining four have not yet been tied to a particular locale.

Medical officials have not yet been able to identify a specific source for the O157: H7 strain of E. coli at the centre of the outbreak.

Four hundred miles north, North Bay Parry Sound District Health Unit officials were investigating 235 cases in the central Ontario city, 45 of which have been confirmed as caused by the particular strain of E. coli.  Harvey’s restaurant in North Bay closed on Oct. 12th.