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12 CASES REPORTED IN NEW JERSEY

TRENTON, N.J. -- At least 12 confirmed cases of E. coli-related illnesses have been reported in New Jersey in the past several weeks, according to New Jersey health officials.The illnesses are being attributed to the consumption of undercooked contaminated ground beef, although the source of the meat and which supermarkets sold it was still unconfirmed at press time."We just haven't finished our investigation

TRENTON, N.J. -- At least 12 confirmed cases of E. coli-related illnesses have been reported in New Jersey in the past several weeks, according to New Jersey health officials.

The illnesses are being attributed to the consumption of undercooked contaminated ground beef, although the source of the meat and which supermarkets sold it was still unconfirmed at press time.

"We just haven't finished our investigation yet and it would be speculative to say anything now, although it clearly goes beyond one supermarket chain," said Marilyn Riley, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Health.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is assisting New Jersey in the investigation, she said.

Health officials have been advising consumers to thoroughly cook ground beef. This outbreak has further fueled calls for using irradiation as a way to kill the bacteria before ground meat gets into consumers' hands.

This summer there have been other reports of E. coli outbreaks, with an unknown number of cases reported in Ohio in July, 16 confirmed cases in Connecticut in June and at least 21 cases in Nebraska in April.