The staff at Guelph General Hospital is on heightened alert after an unusually high number of C. difficile cases were reported in May.

C. difficile is a highly contagious bacterium that causes severe diarrhea and intestinal problems.

It is one of the most common diarrheal infections in hospitals and long-term care facilities, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada. It can also be deadly.

While the hospital is quick to note that this is not an outbreak, it is a significant rise in cases, so the hospital is treating it as one.

Normally there are one or two C. difficile cases a month at Guelph General Hospital, but that number spiked to seven cases in May.

In comparison, St. Mary's Hospital in Kitchener had two cases in May, while Grand River Hospital (GRH) had four cases at its King Street site and three at its Freeport site.

GRH says that is an increase, but it's unclear why it's happening as only two cases appear linked.

In Guelph, hand washing audits and janitorial surveys are being stepped up, and visitors can expect to be reminded to use hand sanitizers as they enter the hospital.

Between 2006 and 2008, 460 people in Ontario died from C. difficile caught during a hospital visit, according to a survey.

Since then, hospitals have boosted efforts to stop the super bug, and releasing these numbers is part of that effort.