E. coli increase the number of victims to 18 in Germany
As the death toll in Germany E outbreak of Escherichia increased to 18 and the number of infections rose to more than 1,830, health officials are investigating the possibility that the killer bacteria have spread from a restaurant in Lübeck, near Hamburg, where some of the sick people ate last month.
A local newspaper in Luebeck reported that 17 people were infected with the bacteria after visiting the restaurant in the Hanseatic port city between 12 and 14. Among them were eight women in a group of tourists from Denmark and eight women from different parts of Germany participated in a seminar. One died of an infection caused by Escherichia coli bacteria, while two adults and one child in southern Germany, who ate at the restaurant, are in critical condition, the newspaper said.
Specialists Robert Koch Institute (RKI), prevention of illness in Germany and the control center and the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment searched the restaurant on Saturday and are now investigating their supply chains to find clues about how deadly bacterium came into circulation. The restaurant owner told ZDF television network that received its supply of fresh vegetable wholesale market in Hamburg where the cucumbers are imported from Spain was suspected initially as the main source of the outbreak three weeks ago, led the Hamburg state authorities prohibit its import.
However, later research showed that despite Spanish cucumbers took the bacteria E. coli, were not highly virulent strain causes lethal infection. The RKI dismissed speculation that the birthday party of the port of Hamburg at the beginning of last month, attended by more than 1.5 million people, may have contributed to the rapid spread of the bacterium E. coli.
The area in and around Hamburg has been the epicenter of the epidemic and more than 17 victims in this country and the largest number of infections occur in northern Germany. Most of about 70 people infected in eleven European countries have visited Germany recently and came into engagement with the back of this country. The first victim was only in Germany until now was a Danish woman who died shortly after returning from a visit to this country.
Meanwhile, scientists cracked the genetic code of the murderer of the bacteria were found to be a cross between an extremely dangerous strain of central Africa and a previously unknown strain in Europe.
The scientists said that through gene transfer, the new strain has gained the ability not only to produce lethal toxins in large quantities, but also to colonize the gut more effectively. The new strain is also reported to be resistant to several drugs, including some antibiotics.
Although it is not uncommon for bacteria to evolve and change your genes, scientists are puzzled how the African and European strains together to produce the most aggressive of E. coli bacteria never appeared. It can cause potentially fatal hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), resulting in acute kidney failure, seizures, stroke and coma. More than 520 patients have been diagnosed with symptoms of hemolytic uremic syndrome in Germany.
Blood transfusion is the most common treatment for severe cases of HUS and German clinics and health authorities in northern Germany have been asking for donations of blood in blood banks in several cities were running out of reserves.
The German health authorities recommend avoiding continued consumption of tomato, cucumber and lettuce, and still can not determine the cause of the infection three weeks after its outbreak. The European Commission yesterday offered to cooperate more closely with the German authorities in identifying the source of infection. EU health commissioner John Dalli said in Brussels that the Commission is prepared to send a team of experts to Germany to assist the German authorities to tackle the crisis.
The commission has been in regular contact with German authorities on the outbreak of E. coli and its impact on public health, this being a priority on the agenda of a meeting of health ministers from the EU in Luxembourg on Monday, Dalli said in a statement. The Commission will also create a web site of E coli on Monday to facilitate rapid and efficient exchange of information between health officials and researchers in their efforts to address the crisis in their areas.
The website for the first time the publication of English translations of the conclusions of RKI and treatment methods recommended by the institute on behalf of EU nations against the threat of an epidemic.
A local newspaper in Luebeck reported that 17 people were infected with the bacteria after visiting the restaurant in the Hanseatic port city between 12 and 14. Among them were eight women in a group of tourists from Denmark and eight women from different parts of Germany participated in a seminar. One died of an infection caused by Escherichia coli bacteria, while two adults and one child in southern Germany, who ate at the restaurant, are in critical condition, the newspaper said.
Specialists Robert Koch Institute (RKI), prevention of illness in Germany and the control center and the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment searched the restaurant on Saturday and are now investigating their supply chains to find clues about how deadly bacterium came into circulation. The restaurant owner told ZDF television network that received its supply of fresh vegetable wholesale market in Hamburg where the cucumbers are imported from Spain was suspected initially as the main source of the outbreak three weeks ago, led the Hamburg state authorities prohibit its import.
However, later research showed that despite Spanish cucumbers took the bacteria E. coli, were not highly virulent strain causes lethal infection. The RKI dismissed speculation that the birthday party of the port of Hamburg at the beginning of last month, attended by more than 1.5 million people, may have contributed to the rapid spread of the bacterium E. coli.
The area in and around Hamburg has been the epicenter of the epidemic and more than 17 victims in this country and the largest number of infections occur in northern Germany. Most of about 70 people infected in eleven European countries have visited Germany recently and came into engagement with the back of this country. The first victim was only in Germany until now was a Danish woman who died shortly after returning from a visit to this country.
Meanwhile, scientists cracked the genetic code of the murderer of the bacteria were found to be a cross between an extremely dangerous strain of central Africa and a previously unknown strain in Europe.
The scientists said that through gene transfer, the new strain has gained the ability not only to produce lethal toxins in large quantities, but also to colonize the gut more effectively. The new strain is also reported to be resistant to several drugs, including some antibiotics.
Although it is not uncommon for bacteria to evolve and change your genes, scientists are puzzled how the African and European strains together to produce the most aggressive of E. coli bacteria never appeared. It can cause potentially fatal hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), resulting in acute kidney failure, seizures, stroke and coma. More than 520 patients have been diagnosed with symptoms of hemolytic uremic syndrome in Germany.
Blood transfusion is the most common treatment for severe cases of HUS and German clinics and health authorities in northern Germany have been asking for donations of blood in blood banks in several cities were running out of reserves.
The German health authorities recommend avoiding continued consumption of tomato, cucumber and lettuce, and still can not determine the cause of the infection three weeks after its outbreak. The European Commission yesterday offered to cooperate more closely with the German authorities in identifying the source of infection. EU health commissioner John Dalli said in Brussels that the Commission is prepared to send a team of experts to Germany to assist the German authorities to tackle the crisis.
The commission has been in regular contact with German authorities on the outbreak of E. coli and its impact on public health, this being a priority on the agenda of a meeting of health ministers from the EU in Luxembourg on Monday, Dalli said in a statement. The Commission will also create a web site of E coli on Monday to facilitate rapid and efficient exchange of information between health officials and researchers in their efforts to address the crisis in their areas.
The website for the first time the publication of English translations of the conclusions of RKI and treatment methods recommended by the institute on behalf of EU nations against the threat of an epidemic.
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