SOURCE
Date: Sun 5 Jun 2011
Source: Associated Press [edited]
<http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110605/ap_on_he_me/eu_contaminated_vegetables_europe>
Initial tests have confirmed that bean sprouts grown in northern
Germany are the likely cause of an _E. coli_ [O104:H4] outbreak that
has killed at least 22 people and sickened over 2200, an agriculture
official said Sun 5 Jun 2011.
Different kinds of sprouts from one organic farm in the greater
Uelzen area, between the northern cities of Hamburg and Hanover, could
be traced to infected persons in 5 different German states, Lower
Saxony Agriculture Minister Gert Lindemann told reporters. "There were
more and more indications in the last few hours that put the focus on
this farm," Lindemann said at a press conference in Hanover.
"Many restaurants that suffered from an _E. coli_ outbreak had those
sprouts delivered," his spokesman, Gert Hahne, told The Associated
Press. The farm was shut down Sunday [5 Jun 2011], and all of its
produce, including fresh herbs, fruits, flowers and potatoes, was
recalled. At least one of the farm's employees was also infected with
the _E. coli_ bacteria, the minister said.
Lindemann said 18 different sprout mixtures were under suspicion,
including sprouts of beans, broccoli, peas, chickpeas, garlic lentils,
mungo beans and radish. The sprouts are often used in mixed salads.
Lindemann urged Germans to not eat sprouts until further notice and
said definitive test results would be available Monday [6 Jun 2011].
He said authorities could not yet rule out other possible sources for
the outbreak and urged Germans to continue avoiding tomatoes,
cucumbers and lettuce until further notice.
Sprouts have been implicated in previous _E. coli_ outbreaks,
particularly one in Japan in 1996 where tainted radish sprouts were
found to have killed 12 people and reportedly sickened more than 12
000 others.
The current crisis is the deadliest _E. coli_ outbreak in modern
history.
The head of Germany's national disease control center raised the
death toll to 22 people on Sunday [5 Jun 2011], 21 in Germany and one
in Sweden, and said another 2153 people in Germany have been sickened.
That figure included 627 people who have developed a rare, serious
complication of the disease that can cause kidney failure. Ten other
European nations and the USA have reported a total of 90 other
victims.
[Byline: Kirsten Grieshaber and Tomislav Skaro]
--
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>
[As the overall number of cases continues to accumulate, it is now
reported that German-grown sprouts may well be the major vehicle. It
is not clearly stated whether the outbreak organism has been isolated
from sprouts, but it is reported that a worker from the farm acquired
the infection. If this farm is the primary source of the organism, the
next step is to find out from where the presumed manure fertilizer
source was obtained. The organism itself is distinctly unusual, and
efforts should be made to try to assess how Mother Nature put the bug
together. - Mod.LL]
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