Thursday 2 June 2011 12.22 BST
World Health Organisation says fatal E coli is a mutant blend of two different varieties and has never been seen before
Excerpt:
Preliminary genetic sequencing suggests the strain is a mutant form of two different E coli bacteria, with lethal genes that could explain why the Europe-wide outbreak appeared to be so big and dangerous, the agency said.
Hilde Kruse, a food safety expert at the WHO, told the Associated Press that "this is a unique strain that has never been isolated from patients before".
She added that the new strain has "various characteristics that make it more virulent and toxin-producing".
So far the mutant E coli strain has infected more than 1,500, including 470 who have developed a rare kidney failure complication. Researchers have been unable to pinpoint the cause of the outbreak, which has hit at least nine European countries.
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