WHO says E. coli strain responsible for European outbreak is new strain never de

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WHO says E. coli strain responsible for European outbreak is new strain never

detected before

By Cheng, The Associated Press | The Canadian Press – 12 minutes ago

LONDON - The E. coli bacteria responsible for a mysterious outbreak that has

left 18 people dead and sickened hundreds is a new strain that has never been

seen before, the World Health Organization said Thursday.

Preliminary genetic sequencing suggests the strain is a mutant form of two

different E. coli bacteria, with aggressive genes that could explain why the

outbreak appears to be so massive and dangerous, the agency said.

" This is a unique strain that has never been isolated from patients before, "

Hilde Kruse, a food safety expert at WHO, told The Associated Press. The new

strain has " various characteristics that make it more virulent and

toxin-producing " than the many E. coli strains people naturally carry in their

intestines.

Researchers have so far been unable to pinpoint the cause of the illness, which

has now spread to at least 10 European countries and fanned uncertainty about

eating tomatoes, cucumbers and lettuce. The strain has sickened more than 1,500

people, including 470 who have developed a rare kidney failure complication, and

killed 18 — most of them in Germany, the country hardest hit.

Fearful of the outbreak spreading east to Russia, the country extended a ban on

vegetables to the entire European Union from just Germany and Spain, a move the

bloc quickly called disproportionate.

Scientists sequencing the bacteria strains found in the outbreak said it was

caused by " an entirely new super-toxic E. coli strain " that several antibiotic

resistant genes, according to a statement from the Shenzhen, China-based

laboratory, BGI. The researchers were working together with scientists from the

University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf.

The scientists found the bacteria is similar to a strain isolated in the Central

African Republic known to cause serious diarrhea, the Chinese lab said.

Kruse said it's not uncommon for bacteria to continually mutate, evolving and

swapping genes. It is difficult to explain where the new strain came from, she

said, but said strains of bacteria from both humans and animals easily trade

genes, similar to how animal viruses like Ebola sometimes jump into humans.

" One should think of an animal source, " Kruse said. " Many animals are hosts of

various types of toxin-producing E. coli. " Some scientists suspect the deadly E.

coli might have originated in contaminated manure used to fertilize vegetables.

Previous E. coli outbreaks have mainly hit children and the elderly, but the

European outbreak is disproportionately affecting adults, especially women.

Kruse said there might be something particular about the bacteria strain that

makes it more dangerous for adults.

But she cautioned that since people with milder cases probably aren't seeking

medical help, officials don't know just how big the outbreak is. " It's hard to

say how virulent (this new E. coli strain) is because we just don't know the

real number of people affected. "

Nearly all the sick people either live in Germany or recently travelled there.

British officials announced four new cases, including three Britons who recently

visited Germany and a German person on holiday in England.

The WHO recommends that to avoid food-borne illnesses people wash their hands

before eating or cooking food, separating raw and cooked meat from other foods,

thoroughly cooking food, and washing fruits and vegetables, especially if eaten

raw. Experts also recommend peeling raw fruits and vegetables if possible.

Russia had earlier this week banned fresh imports from Spain and Germany, but it

expanded the ban Thursday to include the entire EU. The United Arab Emirates

issued a temporary ban on cucumbers from Spain, Germany, Denmark and the

Netherlands.

Lyubov Voropayeva, spokeswoman for the Russian Agency for the Supervision of

Consumer Rights, told the AP the Russian ban has been imposed immediately and

indefinitely. No fatalities or infections have yet been reported in Russia.

" How many more lives of European citizens does it take for European officials to

tackle this problem? " the agency's chief Gennady Onishchenko said to the

state-owned RIA Novosti news agency.

Frederic , a spokesman for the EU's Health and Consumer Policy

Commissioner Dalli, said Thursday that the European Commission would write

to Russia to demand further clarification. The Italian farmers association

Coldiretti criticized the ban as " absurd. "

One expert said the fact the strain is new may have complicated the response to

the outbreak. " Officials may not have had the correct tests to detect it, which

may explain the initial delay in reporting, " said Hunter, a professor of

health protection at the University of East Anglia in England.

He said the number of new cases would likely slow to a trickle in the next few

days. The incubation period for this type of E. coli is about three to eight

days, and most people recover within 10 days.

" Salads have a relatively short shelf life and it's likely the contaminated food

would have been consumed in one to two weeks, " Hunter said.

But Hunter warned the outbreak could continue if there is secondary transmission

of the disease, which often happens when children are infected. The disease can

be spread when infected people don't take proper hygiene measures, like bathing

or handwashing.

Meanwhile, Spain's prime minister slammed the European Commission and Germany

for early on singling out the country's produce as a possible source of the

outbreak, and said the government would demand explanations and reparations.

Zapatero told Spanish National Radio that the German federal

government was ultimately responsible for the allegations, adding that Spain

would seek " conclusive explanations and sufficient reparations. "

Spanish farmers say the accusations has devastated their credibility and

exports. In Valencia, protesting farmers dumped some 300 kilos (700 pounds) of

fruit and vegetables — cabbage, tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and other produce —

outside the German consulate.

The outbreak is already considered the third-largest involving E. coli in recent

world history, and it may be the deadliest. Twelve people died in a 1996

Japanese outbreak that reportedly sickened more than 9,000, and seven died in a

2000 Canadian outbreak.

______

Vasilyeva contributed to this story from Moscow. Associated Press writers

Kirsten Grieshaber in Berlin, e Steinhauser in Brussels, Ciaran Giles in

Madrid, Karel Janicek in Prague and Adam Schreck in Dubai contributed to this

report.