Racing to curb the spread of a killer food bug, Germany set up a task force today to hunt down the source of a highly toxic strain of E.coli that has killed 19 people and sounded alarms around the world.
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, locked in a trade row with the European Union after banning imports of its raw fruit and vegetables, struck a dramatic note by saying he would not “poison” Russians by lifting the embargo.
Health authorities repeated warnings to avoid some raw vegetables in northern Germany – rattling farmers and stores in the high season for salad – and said 199 new cases of the rare strain of the bacteria had been reported in the past two days.
The total of those infected in Germany since the outbreak was detected in early May rose to 1,733 and Germany’s death toll rose by two today to 18, added to one death reported in Sweden, in possibly the deadliest ever such outbreak recorded.
Scientists struggled to find the source of contamination which was assumed to have been caused by poor hygiene at a farm, in transit, or in a shop or food outlet.
After days of warnings against eating potentially toxic raw vegetables, one German expert said there were faint signs the spread of the illness had peaked, though he was still cautious.
“We have a little bit the impression it’s fading but numbers are not yet demonstrating this clearly,” said kidney specialist Reinhardt Brunkhorst in Hamburg, the centre of the outbreak.
European health institutes have tried to reassure the public that the spread of E.coli, a frequent cause of food poisoning, can be contained by washing vegetables and hands before eating or preparing food to avoid bacteria being passed on from the faeces of an infected person.
The failure to find the source of the outbreak, complicated by the fact that salads include a variety of ingredients from different producers and often different countries, has becoming increasingly worrying for health authorities and consumers.
First outbreak
The north German city of Hamburg is at the centre of the outbreak and people who have become ill in 10 other European countries and the United States, probably ate lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers or other raw salad vegetables in Germany.
The World Health Organisation said the strain was a rare one, seen in humans before, but never in this kind of outbreak.
People have also become ill in Austria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Britain and the United States.
“All these cases except two are in people who reside in or had recently visited northern Germany during the incubation period for the infection – typically 3 to 4 days post-exposure – or in one case, had contact with a visitor from northern Germany,” the WHO said in a statement.
E.coli bacteria themselves are harmless but the strain making people sick in Europe has the ability to stick to intestinal walls where it pumps out toxins, sometimes causing severe bloody diarrhoea and kidney problems.
“Wash and wash”
Robert Tauxe of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which has been working with German health officials since last week, said the strain was likely the most deadly yet in terms of the number of deaths recorded.
“I believe it is,” he said. H
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June 20, 2011
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Posted by Jesse Pankhurst
Categories: Health News
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Tags: Aria
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