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MONTREAL -- An infection-control specialist described a C. difficile outbreak in Quebec yesterday as an "epidemic" that has killed 109 people in 10 hospitals over a six-month period this year. Dr. Vivian Loo, author of a study conducted from January to June, said her findings indicate the virulent strain was also indirectly responsible for 108 deaths in the 10 hospitals in Montreal and Sherbrooke, Que.

Another 33 patients underwent major intestinal surgery to control their affliction, the study said.

Asked at a news conference if the aggressive hospital-based strain had reached epidemic proportions, she replied: "I would say this is an epidemic, yes."

C. difficile, which can cause severe diarrhea, has previously been blamed for nearly 100 deaths in Canada since 2001, with the vast majority in Quebec hospitals.