Egyptian seeds possible cause of German E. coli outbreak

[News_Editor]

Egyptian seeds possible cause of German E. coli outbreak

2011-07-01 21:09:29 GMT+7 (ICT)

BERLIN, GERMANY (BNO NEWS) -- Uncertainty remains in Germany's E. coli outbreak, as seeds imported from Egypt are now being signaled as possible sources of the bacteria, health officials said.

According to the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), the consumption of sprouts is the suspected vehicle of infection in both the French cluster and the German outbreak, noting that the isolated E. coli strain in human cases in both countries is the same.

However, with the importance of conducting trace-back and trace-forward investigations at national and EU level to identify what commonalities exist between the sprout production chains in Germany and France, the ECDC said that studies have so far shown that "fenugreek seeds imported from Egypt either in 2009 and/or 2010 are implicated in both outbreaks."

The ECDC noted that there was still "much uncertainty about whether this is truly the common cause of all the infections" as there are currently "no positive bacteriological results." The center added that in particular, the 2009 lot appears to be implicated in the outbreak in France and the 2010 has been considered to be implicated in the German outbreak.

This link, nonetheless, does not explain the most recent case in Sweden, the ECDC said, which is currently under investigation and in which no consumption of sprouts has been implicated.

As of Friday, there have been 50 deaths - 48 in Germany, 1 in Sweden, and 1 in the U.S. - due to the deadly E. coli outbreak that has infected more than 4,000 people since early May, the great majority in Germany.

Initial fears pointed out Spanish cucumbers as the source of the disease, but since mid June, German health officials said contaminated sprouts were likely to have caused the E. coli outbreak after results from an epidemiological investigation conducted by the Robert Koch Institute were announced.

As a result of the announcement, Germany lifted its warning to consumers regarding the safety of cucumbers, fresh lettuce, and tomatoes. The outbreak has also caused millions of Euros in losses within the region's vegetable growers.

Previously, the European Union announced that it would pay at least 150 million Euros ($218 million) in compensation to farmers affected by the E. coli outbreak, which is about 30 percent of the actual damages.

Spanish Agriculture Minister Rosa Aguilar said the decrease in demand for Spanish vegetables was causing farmers 200 million Euros ($291.57 million) in damages every week, and Spanish cucumber farmers are demanding a compensation of 100 percent in lost revenues.

The EU later raised the amount to 210 million Euros ($304 million) in compensation, about 50 percent of the damages. Following the discovery of the source, EU Health Commissioner John Dalli said the outbreak was under control.

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