Plagues,
Pestilences and Diseases
TWO new deaths linked to a mysterious bacterial outbreak
in Europe as E. coli toll rises to 16
* From: AAP
* May 31, 2011 9:58PM
TWO new deaths linked to a mysterious bacterial outbreak in
Europe blamed on tainted vegetables were reported today,
including the first outside Germany.
The deaths brought to 16 the total number of fatalities linked
to the E. coli outbreak, with northwestern Germany the
hardest-hit region.
Hospital officials in Boras, Sweden, announced the death of
woman in her 50s who was admitted on May 29 after a trip to
Germany. In Paderborn, Germany, the local council said an
87-year-old woman who also suffered from other ailments had
died.
In Germany, the national disease control centre said 373 people
were sick with the most serious form of the outbreak -
haemolytic uraemic syndrome, or HUS, a rare complication arising
from an infection most commonly associated with E. coli. That
figure was up from the 329 reported yesterday.
Susanne Glasmacher, a spokeswoman for the Robert Koch Institute,
said another 796 people have been affected by the
enterohaemorrhagic E.coli bacteria - making a total of more than
1150 people infected.
Hundreds of people also have been sickened in other European
countries, but until Tuesday Germany had seen the only deaths.
Germany's Federal Institute for Risk Assessment is still warning
consumers to avoid all cucumbers, lettuces and raw tomatoes as
the outbreak is investigated.
European Union officials have said that German authorities
identified cucumbers from the Spanish regions of Almeria and
Malaga as possible sources of contamination and that a third
suspect batch, originating either in the Netherlands or in
Denmark and traded in Germany, is also under investigation.
They have also noted, however, that the transport chain is long,
and the cucumbers from Spain could have been contaminated at any
point along the route.
The Danish Veterinary and Food Administration said that no
traces of EHEC bacteria were found in tests conducted over the
weekend.
"There is therefore nothing that indicates that Danish cucumbers
are the source of the serious E.coli outbreak that has infected
several patients in Germany, Denmark and Sweden," the agency
said.
In the meantime, Russia's chief sanitary agency yesterday banned
the imports of cucumbers, tomatoes and fresh salad from Spain
and Germany pending further notice.
Spanish Agriculture Minister Rosa Aguilar today denied that her
country was the source of contamination.
"From the beginning, in Germany, Spanish cucumbers have been
named as responsible for this situation. We must say that it is
not true and we must demand that the Germany authorities wrap up
their investigation immediately," she said.
Aguilar called for a "European solution" and slammed Germany's
handling of the outbreak.
She said the situation is "extremely serious" for the
agriculture sector, estimating Spain's vegetable sale losses at
"more than $269.41 million a week".