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EDMONTON — Alberta health officials say four people were infected with E. coli earlier this month after eating steaks purchased from an Edmonton Costco outlet.

But officials aren’t sure if the bacteria was on the steaks when the meat was shipped to the store, or if a metal tenderizer machine that Costco had used pushed E. coli into the steaks.

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Dr. Gerry Predy, Alberta’s senior medical health officer, says it may be impossible to determine the source of the E. coli contamination.

“The E. coli had to come from somewhere,” he said Wednesday at a news conference.

“Some of the meat that was used in that particular machine must have had E. coli on it. Whether the steaks actually had the E. coli on them or were just contaminated because the machine was contaminated — that is something that we will probably never know for sure.”

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Predy declined to say how sick the four people in Edmonton are who have the bacterial infection, citing privacy concerns.