Death toll rises over cucumber E.coli outbreak

German authorities confirmed last week they found a rare and serious strain of the E.coli infection in northern Germany but today have expressed doubts abouth whether the Spanish cucumbers they are investigating carried the strain.

Currently more than 300 people have been reported ill, with at least 16 people thought to have died as a result. The latest was a woman in her mid-50s who died in a Swedish hospital after a trip to Germany.

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) said in its initial report that most of the cases appear to be linked to northern Germany.

“Most cases are from, or have a history of travel to, northern Germany (mainly Hamburg, Northern Lower Saxony, Schleswig-Holstein). Clusters of cases were reported from Hesse and linked to a catering company that supplies cafeterias. These most likely constitute a satellite outbreak.

“The source of the outbreak has not yet been confirmed and intensive investigations are ongoing.”

Spanish authorities have protested loudly at accusations that they were the source of the contamination.

Diego Lopez Garrido, Secretary of State for the European Union, told journalists: “There is no proof of this and so we will demand explanations from who has attributed this matter to Spain.”

The Spanish Agriculture Minister, Rosa Aguilar (pictured right) went on TV this morning to eat cucumbers to prove their safety.

She said: “The image of Spain is being damaged, Spanish producers are being damaged and the Spanish government is not prepared to accept this situation.”

In the UK, three people were diagnosed with the potentially deadly form of the E.coli strain over the weekend and then later released from hospital. All three were German nationals who had travelled to northern Germany recently.

While most Ecoli bacteria are harmless and would usually clear after a week, this particular form known as the Haemolytic Uraemic Syndrome (HUS) is much more serious.

It is a rare strain of E. coli that can affect the blood, kidneys and in severe cases, the central nervous system. This outbreak of this strain is believed to be the largest in the world of its kind.

The Health Protection Agency and Food Standards Agency are recommending that people follow the advice of the German government – which is to avoid eating raw cucumbers, tomatoes and lettuce in or from the affected region of Germany.

They also advise anyone who has returned from Germany and become sick with bloody diarrhoea to seek urgent medical attention.

Safety fears

If the source of the contamination is proven to be from Spain, then UK shoppers should have little to fear from the outbreak.

Derek Hargreaves, technical director of The Cucumbers Growers Association, told Channel 4 News that the majority of cucumbers for sale at this time of year are grown in the UK.

UK growers stop producing cucumbers during our winter, and so supermarkets then buy from the two main European cucumber exporters – Spain and Holland – during those periods.

However there was “grave concern” amongst UK cucumbers growers that their stock will now be priced out of the markets, as Dutch farmers desperately slash their prices.

Holland exports 1.4 billion US dollars worth of cucumbers every year to Germany, but the recent scare over the E.coli outbreak has seen those sales drop.

Some Dutch farmers rely solely on this trade with Germany, and are dropping their prices so low that British supermarkets may be tempted to import them instead of buying nationally.

Hargreaves urges shoppers to “get out there and buy British cucumbers”.

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) backs this up, saying there is “currently no evidence that any affected organic cucumbers from the sources identified have been distributed to the UK”.

But it does advise people to follow basic hygiene recommendations and wash fruit and vegetables before handling or eating them.