Enormity of E. coli outbreak
Source: Agencies |
June 2, 2011, Thursday
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The number of people hit by a massive European outbreak of foodborne bacterial infections is a third bigger than previously known and a stunningly high number of patients suffer from a potentially deadly complication than can shut down their kidneys, officials said yesterday.
Medical authorities appeared no closer to discovering either the source of the infection or the mystery at the heart of the outbreak: why the unusual strain of the E. coli bacteria appears to be causing so many cases of hemolytic uremic syndrome, which attacks the kidneys and can cause seizures, strokes and comas.
Germany's national health agency said 1,534 people there had been infected by enterohemorrhagic E. coli, or EHEC, a particularly deadly strain of the common bacteria found in the digestive systems of cows, humans and other mammals.
The outbreak has hit at least eight European countries but virtually all of the sick people either live in Germany or recently traveled there.
The Robert Koch Institute said 470 people in Germany were suffering from hemolytic uremic syndrome, or HUS, a number independent experts called unprecedented in modern medical history.
HUS normally occurs in 10 percent of EHEC infections, meaning the number in Germany could be expected in an outbreak three times the size being currently reported.
That discrepancy could indicate that a vast number of cases haven't been reported because their symptoms are relatively mild, medical experts said. But they also offered another, more disturbing theory - the strain of EHEC causing the outbreak could be more dangerous than any previously seen.
"There may well be a great number of asymptomatic cases out there that we're missing. This could be a much bigger outbreak than we realize right now," said Paul Hunter, a professor at the University of East Anglia in England. "There might also be something genetically different about this particular strain of E. coli that makes it more virulent."
German Agriculture Minister Ilse Aigner said scientists were working nonstop to find the source of the bacteria that is believed to have been spread in Europe on tainted vegetables - and where in the long journey from farm to grocery store the contamination occurred.
German authorities initially pointed to cucumbers from Spain after people in Hamburg fell ill after eating fresh produce. After tests of some 250 samples of vegetables from around the city, only three cucumbers from Spain and one other of unknown origin tested positive for EHEC.
But further tests showed that, while contaminated, they did not cause the outbreak.
The World Health Organization said there are cases of EHEC in Austria, Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK. Sweden has 15 cases of HUS, followed by Denmark with seven, the Netherlands with three, the UK with two and Spain with one.
Medical authorities appeared no closer to discovering either the source of the infection or the mystery at the heart of the outbreak: why the unusual strain of the E. coli bacteria appears to be causing so many cases of hemolytic uremic syndrome, which attacks the kidneys and can cause seizures, strokes and comas.
Germany's national health agency said 1,534 people there had been infected by enterohemorrhagic E. coli, or EHEC, a particularly deadly strain of the common bacteria found in the digestive systems of cows, humans and other mammals.
The outbreak has hit at least eight European countries but virtually all of the sick people either live in Germany or recently traveled there.
The Robert Koch Institute said 470 people in Germany were suffering from hemolytic uremic syndrome, or HUS, a number independent experts called unprecedented in modern medical history.
HUS normally occurs in 10 percent of EHEC infections, meaning the number in Germany could be expected in an outbreak three times the size being currently reported.
That discrepancy could indicate that a vast number of cases haven't been reported because their symptoms are relatively mild, medical experts said. But they also offered another, more disturbing theory - the strain of EHEC causing the outbreak could be more dangerous than any previously seen.
"There may well be a great number of asymptomatic cases out there that we're missing. This could be a much bigger outbreak than we realize right now," said Paul Hunter, a professor at the University of East Anglia in England. "There might also be something genetically different about this particular strain of E. coli that makes it more virulent."
German Agriculture Minister Ilse Aigner said scientists were working nonstop to find the source of the bacteria that is believed to have been spread in Europe on tainted vegetables - and where in the long journey from farm to grocery store the contamination occurred.
German authorities initially pointed to cucumbers from Spain after people in Hamburg fell ill after eating fresh produce. After tests of some 250 samples of vegetables from around the city, only three cucumbers from Spain and one other of unknown origin tested positive for EHEC.
But further tests showed that, while contaminated, they did not cause the outbreak.
The World Health Organization said there are cases of EHEC in Austria, Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK. Sweden has 15 cases of HUS, followed by Denmark with seven, the Netherlands with three, the UK with two and Spain with one.
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