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RKI: Sprouts Behind Europe’s EHEC Outbreak

 

 


# 5617

 

 

Although none of the test samples taken from the sprout farm under suspicion in Lower Saxony have come back positive, the epidemiological investigation of cases has convinced investigators at the Robert Koch Institute that locally grown sprouts are behind the ongoing outbreak of E. Coli  (EHEC/STEC) in Europe.

 

The announcement was made by RKI’s president, Reinhard Burger at a press conference this morning, where the warning against eating cucumbers, tomatoes and lettuce was lifted, but the warning regarding sprouts was left in place.

 

The following appears on Monsters & Critics and comes from Deutsche Presse-Agentur. 

 

German all clear for cucumbers, tomatoes, lettuce

Jun 10, 2011, 8:59 GMT

Berlin - Cucumbers, tomatoes and lettuce were given an official all-clear Friday by German authorities, who said the evidence was strong that sprouts grown from beans or peas caused an E coli outbreak that has killed 30 people.

 

'It's the sprouts,' said Reinhard Burger, head of the Robert Koch Institute, the federal infectious-disease laboratory.

(Continue . . .)

 

 

Last night Lisa Schnirring of CIDRAP News wrote about the investigation, and how the trace-back investigation into the outbreak continued to lead to locally grown sprouts.

 

Sprouts data complicate outbreak investigation

Lisa Schnirring * Staff Writer

Jun 9, 2011 (CIDRAP News) – An epidemiologic report from German investigators yesterday said the initial case-control study found that just 28% of patients reported they had eaten sprouts, the lead suspect in Europe's Escherichia coli outbreak, pointing up a factor can be difficult to interpret in foodborne illness situations.

 

Though German public officials seem to be zeroing in on sprouts, interviews comparing the food consumption patterns of sick patients and healthy people still suggest that several types of vegetables could be the source, and a third study is under way to focus more on salad ingredients. The full report, posted on the Robert Koch Institute's Web site, appears in German. (CIDRAP News obtained a professionally translated version of the findings.)

(Continue . . . )

 

 

While epidemiological trace-backs often end up being the only method of determining the source of a food borne outbreak, after so many false accusations over the past two weeks, the lack of a `smoking sprout’ will no doubt leave some unconvinced.

 

Criticism of the German response to this outbreak abounds, with legislators, doctors, and public health officials all weighing in.

 

Two days ago, in an AP article appearing in the Detroit Free Press,  CIDRAP’s Director Michael Osterholm is quoted as calling the German response `erratic’ and `a disaster’.

 

 

Experts: E. coli crisis flubbed

June 8th, 2011

 

 

Meanwhile, the outbreak goes on, although German health officials are hopeful that the worst is over. 

 

The most recent ECDC report (June 9th) lists nearly 3,000 victims and 27 deaths.  Other reports have the death toll at at least 30.

 

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E. Coli

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