A person died of listeriosis in Ottawa Monday and public health officials are probing whether the death is linked to a recent outbreak that has killed 13 people across the country.

Dr. Isra Levy, Ottawa's medical officer of health, said the death was the city's first fatal case of listeriosis this year.

Listeriosis is a food-borne illness caused by the bacteria Listeria monocytogenes. A single strain linked to 13 deaths has been traced to a Maple Leaf Foods meat processing plant in Toronto.

Another 38 cases of the disease have been linked to the outbreak and two dozen more were under investigation on Monday, the Public Health Agency of Canada reported. A long list of products made at the plant have been recalled.

The Ottawa case was reported to the public health department on Aug. 28. However, further tests are required to determine whether it was caused by the strain that originated from the Toronto plant.

Levy said that sporadic cases of listeriosis do occur, and over the past three or four years, there has been about one listeriosis-related death in the city each year.