- Title: GERMANY: Authorities find traces of deadly E.coli strain on Spanish cucumbers
- Date: 27th May 2011
- Summary: HAMBURG, GERMANY (MAY 26, 2011) (REUTERS) VARIOUS EXTERIORS OF HAMBURG TOWN HALL NEWS CONFERENCE WITH HAMBURG STATE HEALTH MINISTER CORNELIA PRUEFER-STORCKS CLOSE OF PRUEFER-STORCKS WIDE OF NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (German) HAMBURG STATE HEALTH MINISTER, CORNELIA PRUEFER-STORCKS, SAYING: "The Hamburg institute for hygiene has found traces of EHEC bacteria on four cucumbers, three of them from Spain. This is a result from this morning." REPORTERS (SOUNDBITE) (German) HAMBURG STATE HEALTH MINISTER, CORNELIA PRUEFER-STORCKS, SAYING: "We have published these findings as a warning immediately, the concerned authorities have been informed and we are now following these cucumbers and we will remove them from the food chain where we find them. We ask consumers not to eat cucumbers." REPORTERS (SOUNDBITE) (German) HAMBURG STATE HEALTH MINISTER, CORNELIA PRUEFER-STORCKS, SAYING: "There has been a second finding, also by the Hamburg hygienic institute from yesterday afternoon. The institute succeeded in specifying the strain. It's the type O 104, a strain which is very rare in Germany, which might be a reason for the development of the infections." VARIOUS OF MARKET STAND WITH TOMATOES AND CUCUMBERS ON DISPLAY
- Embargoed: 11th June 2011 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Germany, Germany
- City:
- Country: Germany
- Topics: Health
- Reuters ID: LVAA0TMQKSOTDUIX15WB1JFV9Z5R
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- Story Text: Spanish cucumbers are most likely to blame as the source of the two-week-old E. coli outbreak in Germany that has led to at least four deaths and left more than 100 people sick, health officials said in Hamburg on Thursday (May 26).
Three of four contaminated cucumbers analysed by the Hamburg Institute for Hygiene and the Environment came from Spain, said the state health minister for Hamburg, Cornelia Pruefer-Storcks.
Cucumbers from the affected producers have been pulled from shelves and officials have told people to stop eating the vegetable. The origin of the fourth cucumber is not yet known.
The E. coli outbreak began two weeks ago in northern Germany and has since spread to eastern and southern regions.
So far four people have died because of the mostly antibiotic resistant pathogen, which causes a gastrointestinal infection and leads to bloody vomiting and diarrhoea.
At least 140 people in Germany have been diagnosed with hemolytic-uremic syndrome, which is caused by the bacteria and can lead to kidney failure.
This is the second consumer food scare in Germany this year. In January highly toxic dioxin was found in egg, poultry and pork products. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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