World's largest E coli outbreak kills 14 in Germany

May 30, 2011

More than 300 seriously ill in Germany as E coli bacterium spreads to other

northern European countries

Reuters guardian.co.uk, Monday 30 May 2011 18.36 BST

An E coli outbreak that has killed 14 people and made more than 300 seriously

ill in Germany has spread to other north European countries and is expected to

worsen in the coming week.

" We hope that the number of cases will go down but we fear that it will worsen, "

said Oliver Grieve, spokesman for the University Medical Centre

Schleswig-Holstein in north Germany, where many of those afflicted are being

treated.

The source of the virulent strain of the bacteria is unknown, German authorities

said on Monday ahead of a meeting of federal and state officials in Berlin.

Most of the deaths have been in northern Germany. The E coli pathogen has been

identified on cucumbers imported from Spain but it is unclear if they were

contaminated there, during transport or in Germany. There are 36 cases of

suspected E coli in Sweden, all linked to travel in northern Germany. A small

number of cases have been reported in Britain, Denmark, France and the

Netherlands, all linked with travel to Germany.

The German government has identified the pathogen as hemolytic-uremic syndrome

(HUS), a serious complication of a type of E coli known as Shiga toxin-producing

E coli (STEC), and said it had killed 14 people and made at least 329 ill.

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control said in a risk assessment

that the HUS/STEC outbreak is the largest in the world of its kind.

HUS affects the blood, kidneys and, in severe cases, the nervous system and can

be particularly serious for children and the elderly. Some 60 cases of HUS are

reported annually in Germany, the government said.

Grieve said his hospital had 82 cases of HUS and 115 confirmed E coli cases, and

said the number of cases there had doubled within the past few days.

The northern port city of Hamburg alone has reported 488 cases of E coli since

the outbreak began in mid-May and has 94 cases of HUS.A hospital in the city

said it was transferring patients with less serious illnesses to other clinics

to cope with the flood of HUS patients.

German authorities have warned consumers to avoid eating cucumbers, lettuces and

tomatoes and have ordered some products removed from store shelves.

Austria's food safety agency ordered a recall of organically grown cucumbers,

tomatoes and eggplant supplied by a Spanish producer thought to be the source of

the outbreak. It said 33 Austrian stores were affected.

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