E.coli Outbreak Claims More Lives

Europe's outbreak of E. coli bacterial infections caused another two deaths on Tuesday, including the first outside Germany, bringing the rising total to 16 reported fatalities and around 400 severe cases.

The outbreak, centered in northern Germany, is costing farmers and retailers millions of euros as mountains of raw vegetables sit uneaten, with no clarity on what caused the infections. The aggressive strain has now spread to six other European countries.

All of the cases so far, including that of a Swedish woman who died Tuesday, have been linked to northern Germany. According to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, based in Stockholm, the disease is normally food-borne, but person-to-person transmission is possible. The strain, known as enterohemorrhagic E. coli, can cause bloody diarrhea and, occasionally, kidney failure.

Angry Spanish farmers whose produce has been cited as a possible source of the deadly bacterial infection in Europe are watching in despair as machines grind their suddenly unwanted fruit and vegetables.

The strain has proven unusually resistant to treatment, and victims range in age from young to old, although most are women. According to the Robert Koch Institute, a research facility funded by the German health ministry, an additional 800 people have suffered from a milder version of the infection.

Around 1,000 people in Germany contract E. coli food poisoning in an average year, but usually most cases are minor.

Researchers at the institute believe the current outbreak stems from consumption of contaminated tomatoes, lettuce or cucumbers.

Hamburg city health authorities reported last week that they had found traces of the bacteria on cucumbers imported from Spain. On Tuesday, however, Hamburg officials said the bacteria on the Spanish cucumbers didn't match the strain behind the human infections, increasing the mystery about what triggered the outbreak.

German authorities have also identified shipments of cucumbers from Denmark and the Netherlands as potential sources.

Germany first reported a rise in E. coli cases on May 22. Similar cases have been reported in Sweden, the U.K., Denmark, France, Switzerland and the Netherlands. The people concerned had all travelled to northern Germany, according to the Robert Koch Institute.

The outbreak has been widely covered in German media and has led to a slump in sales of raw vegetables. Health experts have advised consumers to wash all vegetables thoroughly. "Consumer uncertainty is still quite strong," said the German Farmers' Association in a statement Tuesday. "For vegetable growers, the collapse of the market is leading to a significant loss of income."

Restaurants around Germany posted notices letting customers know that raw vegetables have been washed thoroughly. Several German grocery-store chains have stopped selling Spanish cucumbers. Lidl, a grocery store with 3,200 locations in Germany, stopped selling Spanish cucumbers, a spokesman confirmed. REWE, another German chain, offered refunds to customers who wanted to return Spanish cucumbers and also pulled the produce from its shelves.

The Spanish government said at a press conference Monday that none of the country's products had been found to be contaminated.


Doctors at the University of Hannover's medical school say they may have discovered a treatment—an antibody from a U.S. firm that has proved effective in treating 17 cases in the past week.

While not intended for E. coli treatment, the antibody had been used a handful of times previously in E. coli cases, prompting the Hannover doctors to request the drug and use it in treating the German outbreak.

A spokesman warned that more testing will be needed before the treatment is proven as a cure, and that the measure is only used after all other treatment options have failed.

 

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