Deadly European E. coli outbreak claims 16th victim

May 31, 2011– BONN – Belgium and Russia banned the import of vegetables from Spain, believed to be the source of at least some of the contaminated cucumbers. Madrid shot back saying it would seek financial compensation from the European Union for lost sales. More than two weeks after the food poisoning outbreak was first reported in northern Germany, the number of confirmed and suspected cases has reached 1,200, according to media reports. The Robert Koch Institute (RKI), Germany’s national disease institute, said three deaths have been officially linked to the bacteria, but “in total about a dozen people have died according to regional authorities”. These authorities later Monday announced two more deaths: a woman of 50 and a man of 75 — bringing the toll to at least 16. The Stockholm-based European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control has described the outbreak of the strain of E. coli as “one of the largest worldwide and the largest ever reported in Germany.” Authorities in Germany warned against eating raw vegetables after traces of the bacteria were found on organic cucumbers from Spain last week. But officials said they are unsure what caused the sudden outbreak of enterohaemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC) which can result in full-blown haemolytic uraemic syndrome (HUS), a disease that causes bloody diarrhoea and serious liver damage and possible death. The outbreak has hit countries including Britain, Denmark, Sweden and the Netherlands, but most these cases appear to involve people who had recently travelled to or from Germany. “Normally we see about 1,000 cases per year, but we’ve now had some 1,200 cases in just 10 days,” Jan Galle, director of the Luedenscheid clinic in western Germany, told ZDF public television. –Physics.org