Seven or eight patients at Joseph Brant Memorial Hospital in Burlington, Ont. have died in an outbreak of 107 cases of the deadly Clostridium difficile infection over the past year.

Brant Memorial said Thursday there are currently six patients in the hospital with active C. difficile.

The infection causes diarrhea and more serious intestinal conditions such as colitis and is the most common infection in hospitals and long-term care facilities.

C. difficile has claimed about 2,000 lives in Quebec since 2003.

In the past 12 months, 107 patients contracted the infection while in Joseph Brant. Thirty-eight of those patients died within 30 days of diagnosis but not all because of the infection.

Hospital president Don Scott said Thursday that to date, a preliminary review shows about one-quarter of those 38 deaths were caused by C. difficile infection.

Scott said the hospital is aggressively monitoring the effectiveness of infection and control measures, working with the Halton Region Health Department and the Central South Regional Infection Control network to ensure patient safety.

"As of today, our cases of C. difficile are decreasing," he said. "We are down to six as one went home today."

C. difficile is treatable at home with antibiotics.