E. coli in Bean Sprouts Studied as Cause Agent in Germany's Massive Outbreak
E. coli in bean sprouts may be the cause of Germany's massive outbreak of E. coli O104:H4, according to the latest from the investigation by public health officials. A variety of media reports say the sprouts appear to have come from a grower in northern Germany -- the center of the outbreak.
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While testing is under way to confirm the cause, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control is reporting 658 cases of HUS, or hemolytic uremic sydrome, and 1605 non-HUS Shiga toxin E. coli cases. Twenty-two people have died in the outbreak.
While HUS is predominantly observed in children under 5 years of age, in this outbreak the great majority of cases are adults, with more than two thirds being women, The agency said most case patients have a history of travel to the North of Germany (mainly Schleswig-Holstein, Lower Saxony, North-Rhine-Westphalia and Hamburg). Within the EU also Denmark, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom have reported cases of HUS, related to the ongoing outbreak as well as cases of non-HUS STEC cases.
