Alberta Health Services is looking into eight cases of E. coli in the province and is trying to determine the source of the infections.

There are currently three cases of E. coli infection in Calgary, one in central Alberta, and four in the Edmonton area.

Alberta Health Services is still trying to determine the source of the new cases and samples have been taken from the infected patients.

It could be some time until health officials are able to determine how the patients got sick and where they were exposed to E. coli.

“It can be some time because what we also do as well is with that lab report, or that lab result, the laboratory does some testing too, we call it fingerprinting, to try and get more specifics to characterize that particular bacteria,” said Dr. Judy MacDonald from AHS.

In the Calgary region in each of the last two years there were between 25 and 30 E. coli cases.

So far this year there have been 19 cases of E. coli infection.