A recent test of packaged raw chicken products bought at grocery stores across the country found that roughly half of them were contaminated with the bacteria E. coli.

Two more cases of E. coli in central Missouri were confirmed Tuesday, bringing the total to seven people in the area who have recently been sickened by the same bacterial strain, state health officials said.

French far­right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen has declared that the rise in Campylobacter and E. coli cases in Europe was “directly related” to an alleged increase in ritual slaughterings, which she called a “sanitary bomb”.

The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) is investigating an increase in cases of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) in Central Missouri during late March and early April, 2012. Five cases of E. coli O157:H7 have been identified during this time period.