View Full Version : E.coli cucumber scare: Germany seeks source of outbreak
Germans have been warned not to eat cucumbers until tests identify the source of a deadly E.coli outbreak that has killed 10 and spread across Europe.
It is thought contaminated organic cucumbers were imported from Spain, but further tests are being carried out.
The vegetables have left hundreds ill with Hemolytic-uremic Syndrome (HUS), which causes kidney problems.
Cases have also been recorded in Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands and the UK.
One woman was taken to hospital in Poland on Monday and said to be in a serious condition after returning from a trip to the northern German city of Hamburg, where more than 450 cases have been reported.
On Sunday, authorities in the Czech Republic and Austria took some Spanish-grown cucumbers off shop shelves amid contamination fears.
Czech officials said affected cucumbers may also have been exported to Hungary and Luxembourg.
Suspicion has fallen on organic cucumbers from Spain imported by Germany but then re-exported to other European countries, or exported directly by Spain.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-13592765
Note: 30 May 2011 Last updated at 09:55 GMT
danasan
05-30-11, 06:03 AM
Yes, especially here in the north of Germany people are afraid as we get almost all of our vegetables from the fruit market in Hamburg. My girlfriend working in a supermarket reports a great drop in selling veggies in the last couple of days.
It's a serious problem for our farmers as well. Costumers suspect our own products as being contaminated, too.
I can imagine that there is a problem for the local farmer, all here in Sweden were reportedly on the last Friday that something was going on and they have now taken steps to all trade with cucumbers from the fields.
danasan
05-30-11, 06:32 AM
Update:
Possibly found the bacteria in 3 (three) cucumbers from Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, a county in the north-east of Germany. It will take more than one week to confirm if it is the case or not.
German Source (http://www.shz.de/nachrichten/top-thema/article/111/hinweise-auf-ehec-bei-gurkenproben.html)
Are they located it, it is good, for further dissemination.
http://img818.imageshack.us/img818/4451/ffo005460x230.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/818/ffo005460x230.jpg/)
Several people are thought to have died after eating cucumbers contaminated with E.coli.
The state of a woman in Halland(South-west in Sweden,approx 550 km from Stockhom) infected with EHEC disease has worsened and is now considered as critical. Six new EHEC cases were found last weekend in Sweden - now have 36 people infected.
Be careful, cucumbers attacking large-scale,:hmmm:
the_tyrant
05-30-11, 08:59 AM
this is why you eat meat
don't eat your veggies!
Frankly, so when it comes to vegetables, I am not a big consumer of cucumbers, there are other things that can slip down, but I know that they are popular, among some people fore some "reasons" :O:
Skybird
05-30-11, 10:59 AM
There is dispute over Spanish imports being the source of the outbreak. Spanish authorities have shut down several farms in Almeria for examination. Transport was claimed by the Spanish to be the open gate for intoxication when the goods fell of a truck, but that theory has been ripped apart and shreddered by German experts.
Far more than 1000 people so far have become ill in Germany, the infection spreading throught all neighbouring countries, and all of Europe. The UN says it is one of the worst outbreaks of E-coli in medical history.
Many people are in intensive medical treatement, fighting for their lives. Ten or eleven have already died. Antibiotics are of reduced effectiveness or are not effective at all. That is becasue the bacterias has become incredibly immune to antibiotics, which now can be foun d even on the roots of planted begetables. That is our own fault, and the deeds of our past will haunt us - since we gave antibiotics for everyx flu and ever yharmless nothingness of a symptom.
The current outbreak is accompanied by a medical complication called HUS, which is a potentially life-endangering problem for the liver.
The farming lobby in Germany wants to sue the Robert-Koch-Institut (which leads the medical research) - for having warned the German public!
Change of trend:
http://www.tagesspiegel.de/images/ungesundts/4228034/2.jpg?format=format10 (http://www.tagesspiegel.de/mediacenter/karikatur/karikaturen-von-stuttmann-und-schwalme/3994.html?p3994=4#image)
"Back then, I lived very unhealthy, and only ate salad, cucumber, tomatoes..." (from: Der Tagesspiegel)
One of the reasons is to NOT take antibiotics unless needed, which in some countries account for everything possible, but not Germany or Sweden, UK and also a few more countries, until the end, it will be resistant to both the one and the second, however, can it is possible that these bacteria could be cured more rapidly, with current medications, but I hope for a speedy solution to the problem, before the holiday times when people travel by air more, and border-crossing.
danasan
05-30-11, 11:18 AM
The hardest challenge, IMHO, will be to find out the source from which the vegetables are infected.
It is a step forward to sort out what is actually infected, but why.
Depending on which reports you read, it could be fertilizer, biogas plants, the whole mass breeding branch etc.
We better hope for quick solutions. At the moment, it seems to be 10 new cases a day here in Germany, but if it becomes epidemic...
As long as the way of infection is not known, who knows how to avoid?
A deadly E.coli outbreak linked to cucumbers is expected to worsen in the coming days, a scientist says.
Fourteen people have died in Germany and hundreds are ill from infections linked to contaminated vegetables.
"We hope the number of cases will go down but we fear it will worsen," said Oliver Grieve, of the University Medical Centre Schleswig-Holstein, where many victims are being treated.
It is thought cucumbers from Spain were at the origin of the outbreak.
But Spanish officials have refused to accept the blame, saying it is still unclear exactly when and where the vegetables were contaminated.
Robert Koch Institute (RKI), Germany's national disease institute, has confirmed 329 cases in the country - though some reports have mentioned as many as 1,200 cases.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-13597080
Note: Update Record, 31 May 2011 Last updated at 01:19 GMT
Don't people wash and/or peel their veggies? :-?
I do it, but this has apparently occurred in Spain, it is said, but would not "speak" loud about it, :doh:
NeonSamurai
05-31-11, 08:54 AM
I am not sure if washing alone would solve the problem. Pealing would just spread the surface bacteria around.
Also I would point out that the e.coli strain is probably antibiotic resistant thanks to the practices of factory farms which use massive quantities of the stuff to keep the animals alive in what are otherwise unlivable environments. The source is probably unprocessed manure or sewage. I know I always tend to avoid anything from China or Mexico because of their history with using raw waste (including human).
Spain has expressed anger at links being made between Spanish cucumbers and a deadly E. coli outbreak.
The country's agriculture minister said Germany pointed to Spanish cucumbers "without having reliable data".
Meanwhile, German officials have voiced doubts about whether the Spanish cucumbers they are investigating carried the deadly E. coli strain.
The outbreak has led to 16 deaths - 15 in Germany and a woman who died in Sweden after travelling to Germany.
The Robert Koch Institute (RKI), Germany's national disease institute, says more than 1,150 people within Germany have been affected by enterohaemorrhagic E. coli, also
known as EHEC.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-13605910
Note: Update Record, 31 May 2011 Last updated at 15:11 GMT
Jimbuna
05-31-11, 03:43 PM
Germany are now suggesting the source of the contamination may not be Spain.
Quite the contrary, Spain "can" be the source.
Jimbuna
05-31-11, 04:11 PM
I'll settle for what my news providers latest sources inform them thanks....time will tell.
By all means, it's the price you pay for being public protector.
Jimbuna
05-31-11, 04:51 PM
More the price I pay for mrs bhuna asking who follows my every post :yep:
:)
:rotfl2: No, I have pay the prize for more then 25 year.
Jimbuna
05-31-11, 05:02 PM
:rotfl2: No, I have pay the prize for more then 25 year.
She has her suspicions now :o
Health officials in Germany have admitted that the source of an E. coli outbreak can't yet be confirmed. Initially, they'd laid the blame squarely on organic cucumbers from Spain.
The authorities in Spain have accused Germany of mishandling the crisis, and say it's cost Spanish agriculture millions of dollars in lost revenue.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-13611818
Note: Update Record, 1 June 2011 Last updated at 06:23 GMT
http://img847.imageshack.us/img847/6341/53093627bactgetty.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/847/53093627bactgetty.jpg/)
Germany struggles to identify the source of a deadly E. coli outbreak that has killed 16 people and left about 470 seriously ill.
http://img26.imageshack.us/img26/5425/53110075getty.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/26/53110075getty.jpg/)
Spain says its farmers have lost millions of euros since being wrongly accused.
The head of the German public health body tackling a deadly E.coli outbreak says it may be months before it stops.
Reinhard Burger, president of the Robert Koch Institute, told the BBC "we may never know" the infections' source.
He expressed sympathy for Spanish farmers affected by the false charge that their cucumbers were to blame.
More than 1,500 people have been infected by enterohaemorrhagic E.coli (EHEC), which can cause the deadly haemolytic-uraemic syndrome (HUS).
Seventeen people have died - 16 of them in Germany and one in Sweden.
Spread to US
At least 365 new E.coli cases were reported on Wednesday, a quarter of them involving HUS, a condition associated with bloody diarrhoea and kidney failure, the Robert Koch Institute said.
The new cases include two in the US, both of whom had recently travelled to Hamburg, where many of the cases are clustered.
Professor Burger said it was impossible to say how long before the last case would appear:"The number [of cases] will come down but how long it will take I am not sure. It could be weeks, months," he told the BBC.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-13624554
Note: Update Record, 2 June 2011 Last updated at 05:07 GMT
Skybird
06-02-11, 06:34 AM
They now say the strain of ecoli responsible for the aggressiveness of the epidemic and the dangerous complications, is a completely new strain deriving from mutation; it has never been observed before.
Therapies are toothless in many cases. Nationwide they run out of blood conserves. Doctors admit they are clueless and helpless, nobody knows anything about where it came from, how it spreads, and what to do, there is some mild panic amongst doctors. It was said that it cannot be ruled out that the epidemic will run for several months before declining.
Initial suspicions that this may be an intentional release of a bio weapon, were amaziongly quickly gagged and sinc ethen ignored. If it is an attack, then they do not want to let the public know. If it is not, this affair is a wonderful blueprint for the bad guys to teahc them how easily they can do maximum damage. Ecoli bacterias are very easily accessible in the less developed world.
There is a general warning over eating raw vegetables, especially in Northern Germany.
Russia has banned all EU imports of vegetables. The EU calls it exaggerated, but considering that the researchers are absolutely clueless and helpless, I cannot call them wrong.
Yes, this cucumber story is not funny news, when it comes to deploy all available staff to tackle the problem
There's 7 people infected in the UK apparently, but they have all been people who have recently returned from or are originally from Germany, so it's not actually spreading like that yet. However, Sweden, Denmark, Holland and Spain all have cases reported, but only Germany and Sweden have suffered fatalities.
It's probably germans putting cucumbers where E. coli live.
Jimbuna
06-02-11, 09:39 AM
LOL...beat me to it :DL
BERLIN — The World Health Organization said Thursday that an unusually lethal strain of E. coli, which has infected more than 1,500 people in Germany, mystified public health officials and threatened to touch off panic in Europe, was a previously unknown variant of the bacteria, raising new concerns about the extent and severity of the contagion.
As consumers across Europe weighed whether it was safe to eat raw produce, Russia extended a ban on fresh vegetable imports, initially imposed on produce from Spain and Germany, to encompass all of the European Union on Thursday, triggering a sharp response from European officials who called the move “disproportionate.”
Britain’s Health Protection Agency, meanwhile, confirmed Thursday that the number of cases in Britain had risen from three to seven, with the bacteria found in people who had recently traveled to Germany. For the first time, it said, three residents of Britain were among those infected. There had been no cases of secondary infection, the agency said.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/03/world/europe/03ecoli.html?hp
Note: Update Record, Published: June 2, 2011
Jimbuna
06-02-11, 05:34 PM
More ----e !!
Spanish producers dumped vegetables at the German consulate.
German clinics are appealing for blood donations as the number of people infected with a deadly strain of E. coli has risen above 1,730.
So far 17 people have died from the bug in Germany, and it is suspected in another death. One also died in Sweden.
German scientists say they have decoded the new E. coli strain's genes, with help from a Chinese lab. It is a new hybrid form toxic to humans.
Germans are still being advised not to eat raw vegetables.
Nearly 500 infected people in Germany have got haemolytic-uraemic syndrome (HUS), which harms the kidneys and nervous system and can be fatal.
Europe-wide problem
Most cases are in northern Germany, including Hamburg. In severe cases doctors have to perform blood transfusions.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-13639617
Note: Update Record, 3 June 2011 Last updated at 11:13 GMT
danasan
06-03-11, 07:55 AM
Well, Hamburg has one large wholesale market for fruit and vegetables, a lot of the turnover goes to Northern Germany.
Turnover: 1,500,000 t annual (English)
(http://www.grossmarkt-hamburg.de/e01_03_zahlendatenfakten.html)
This kind of becomes a serious blow to cucumber growers, and people :hmmm:
It has reached the US now.
http://www.foxnews.com/health/2011/06/02/new-strain-e-coli-in-europe/
No good news, S!it :damn:
It has reached the US now.
http://www.foxnews.com/health/2011/06/02/new-strain-e-coli-in-europe/
I was told that American has been in the Northern part of Germany, too.
Just an idea: It used to be windy and dry in Northern Germany over the last months. That caused sandstorms from the farmer's fields along the motorways which resulted into terrible accidents. Because of water shortage Farmers put slurry on the fields to prevent that the soil gets blown away. Wind and slurry and people eating in motorway restaurants.
I do not believe in, it sounds far-fetched, :hmmm:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-13639617
Note: Update Record,4 June 2011 Last updated at 00:02 GMT
Jimbuna
06-04-11, 06:22 AM
I was told that American has been in the Northern part of Germany, too.
Just an idea: It used to be windy and dry in Northern Germany over the last months. That caused sandstorms from the farmer's fields along the motorways which resulted into terrible accidents. Because of water shortage Farmers put slurry on the fields to prevent that the soil gets blown away. Wind and slurry and people eating in motorway restaurants.
Just seeen the Sy News midday edition and there are currently eleven reported cases in the uk...all are either German nationals or have been to northern Germany recently.
Tribesman
06-05-11, 10:32 AM
So its not Spanish cucumbers that are the suspect source now, it is German beansprouts.
I bet those Spanish growers are well and truly pissed off.
Good thing you live in the right country, so you do not have any cucumbers, flying through the window, :yep:
The BBC's Stephen Evans: "It looks as though it is this farm that is the epicentre of the outbreak".
A farm in northern Germany has been identified as the most likely source of many of the infections in the E. coli outbreak that has left 22 people dead.
The farm, producing beansprouts, is located in Uelzen, south of Hamburg, the epicentre of the outbreak that has also made more than 2,000 people ill.
German officials were awaiting results of tests on the farm's produce that would offer more conclusive proof.
The farm has been closed and Germans advised to stop eating beansprouts.
EU agriculture ministers are to hold an emergency meeting on Tuesday to discuss the outbreak and its effect on production, the EU presidency has said.
Hospitals overwhelmed
The agriculture minister for Lower Saxony, Gert Lindemann, said: "Further evidence has emerged which points to a plant nursery in Uelzen as the source of the EHEC cases, or at least one of the sources," he said.
Definite proof would depend on test results, but "a connection has been found involving all the main outbreaks".
The farm is about 100km (62m) south of Hamburg and supplies restaurants and markets in the city and neighbouring German states.
http://img692.imageshack.us/img692/6301/53256442germanyuelzen06.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/692/53256442germanyuelzen06.jpg/)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-13663630
Note: Update Record,6 June 2011 Last updated at 08:49 GMT
Progress has been made on cucumber front,:hmmm:
BossMark
06-06-11, 07:28 AM
Progress has been made on cucumber front,:hmmm:
Glad I don't like cucumber:yawn:
It's your choice to eat, and use!
The bean sprouts have been almost ruled out, back to square one on the horizon.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-13672161
http://img845.imageshack.us/img845/7615/beansproutsrs.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/845/beansproutsrs.jpg/)
Jimbuna
06-06-11, 01:35 PM
The bean sprouts have been almost ruled out, back to square one on the horizon.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-13672161
Exactly :yep:
Skybird
06-06-11, 03:54 PM
Over one million Germans suffer from food poisoning every year. Most of these are not about toxic chemical agents, but bacterias. Authorities in that field and institutions dealing with this as well as pandemics (which happen all around us day in and day out) say that in 3 out of 4 cases the origin and cause of such events never get identified.
First it was Spanish cucumbers, then salad vegetables and now bean sprouts are the prime suspect in the search for a source of the E. coli outbreak.
German officials believe there is a connection with infected patients and bean sprouts grown at one farm in Uelzen, south of Hamburg.
Early results have come back negative. Forty samples were taken from the farm, 23 results are in, and none have E. coli.
Investigators say tests are still ongoing and warn that answers may be difficult to find, as it is several weeks since the potentially contaminated sprouts were grown.
It is not the first time bean sprouts - including adzuki, alfalfa, lentils and mung beans - have been associated with a health scare.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-13665785
Note: Update Record, 6 June 2011 Last updated at 14:01 GMT
Jimbuna
06-07-11, 03:45 AM
If and when the source is eventually found it wouldn't suprise me if it an infected foreign migrant working in a packing/processing plant.
Nippelspanner
06-07-11, 04:14 AM
If and when the source is eventually found it wouldn't suprise me if it an infected foreign migrant working in a packing/processing plant.
Uh, because migrants are dirty, germy and dont care about hygiene? :hmmm:
:yeah:
Castout
06-07-11, 04:28 AM
If and when the source is eventually found it wouldn't suprise me if it an infected foreign migrant working in a packing/processing plant.
Nah it was from G-d.
Cruelty given back.
Migrant's a too convenient excuse.
If and when the source is eventually found it wouldn't suprise me if it an infected foreign migrant working in a packing/processing plant. It can provide "some" signal to operators in the area, which you touch, and eventually have a positive direction in imigrations policy, :hmmm:
The EU health commissioner has said the current E. coli outbreak is limited geographically to northern Germany and does not need Europe-wide controls.
John Dalli also warned against releasing unproven information on the outbreak, saying it spread fear and adversely affected farm producers.
He was speaking ahead of emergency talks by EU agriculture ministers.
Efforts continue to find the source of the E. coli outbreak, which has killed 22 people and sickened 2,200.
All the deaths, bar one in Sweden, have been in Germany. Twelve countries have been affected, with the cases outside Germany linked to travel there.
The latest focus has been on bean sprouts from a German farm in Uelzen, south of Hamburg. However, of 40 samples examined from the farm, the first 23 tested negative.
'Honour of the cucumber'
Mr Dalli told the European Parliament: "I stress that the outbreak is limited geographically to the area surrounding the city of Hamburg, so there is no reason to take action on a European level. [EU-wide] measures against any product are disproportionate."
But he admitted that bans on certain products were a Europe-wide problem.Russia has banned imports of fresh vegetables from the EU.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-13677348
Note: Update Record, 7 June 2011 Last updated at 09:17 GMT
Jimbuna
06-07-11, 05:18 AM
Uh, because migrants are dirty, germy and dont care about hygiene? :hmmm:
:yeah:
Nope...possibly because the disease is more prevalent in certain parts of Africa for example.
Jimbuna
06-07-11, 11:34 AM
Huh? :hmmm:
Spain wants compensation, so any minute now Dave & Nick will right out a cheque for 30 million pounds.
Spain wants compensation, so any minute now Dave & Nick will right out a cheque for 30 million pounds. What...it is not wise :nope:
What...it is not wise :nope:
Tell them that. There throwing around money like it grows on trees.
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8EfHgFrVbtg/TcGl8UmVaHI/AAAAAAAAB34/VPt7aFV9ReU/s1600/Brevity.gif
Jimbuna
06-07-11, 02:17 PM
Tell them that. There throwing around money like it grows on trees.
EU are about to pay out 150 million Eu in compensation :o
EU are about to pay out 150 million Eu in compensation :o
Via from our banks. :rolleyes:
he European Commission has proposed giving at least 150m euro (£134m; $220m) in compensation to farmers hit by the deadly E. coli outbreak.
EU agriculture ministers have been holding crisis talks, amid criticism of Germany's handling of the outbreak.
But Germany's health minister has said the worst could now be over.
Producers of salad vegetables have seen sales plummet during the outbreak, which has killed 24 people and sickened nearly 2,400.
Germany's Health Minister Daniel Bahr said there was cause for optimism, saying there were "some arguments suggesting the worst is behind us".
There has been growing criticism of the way the outbreak has been handled, with MEPs accusing the German authorities of a lack of communication and co-operation.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-13683270
Note: Update Record, 7 June 2011 Last updated at 17:17 GMT
It was this sum that Jim, was referring to 150m euro (£134m; $220m) :doh:
Germany's health minister has said there is reason to be cautiously optimistic that an outbreak of a deadly new strain of E. coli has peaked.
Daniel Bahr told reporters that there were "some arguments suggesting the worst is behind us", but that it was too early to give the all-clear.
The outbreak has so far left 24 dead, infected 2,400 and left hundreds with a complication that attacks the kidneys.
Earlier, the EU proposed 150m euros (£134m) of compensation for farmers.
But agriculture ministers said they wanted much more and that their producers of fruit and vegetables should be compensated for the full amount of their losses, estimated at up to 417m euros (£372m) a week.
The outbreak was wrongly blamed on Spanish cucumbers last week by the health authorities in northern Germany, the centre of the outbreak.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-13691087
Note: Update Record,8 June 2011 Last updated at 00:02 GMT
Jimbuna
06-08-11, 11:06 AM
Via from our banks. :rolleyes:
Well...yes in a way...it is from the contributions of each EU member state.
Germany's health minister says new E. coli infections from a deadly outbreak are dropping significantly and the worst of the illness is over.
Daniel Bahr said he was cautiously optimistic the outbreak had peaked, but warned that more deaths were expected as new cases emerged each day.
The outbreak has so far left 24 dead, infected 2,400 and left hundreds with a complication that attacks the kidneys.
Germany has been criticised across Europe for its response.
Health authorities initially wrongly blamed Spanish cucumbers. Then an organic bean sprout farm in northern Germany - the centre of the outbreak - was thought to be responsible.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-13691087
Note: Update Record,8 June 2011 Last updated at 15:14 GMT
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ev7jpornTME&feature=related
Great man,4 years old :DL
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