German health experts have been hard at work, trying to find the source of a new, “very toxic” strain of E. coli bacteria that is rapidly spreading throughout Europe. So far, they have not been successful.
Just when officials thought the death toll was slowing down, an 80-year-old woman at a spa in northern Germany died of the infection earlier today.
Robert Koch Institute reports that while the exact source of the infection is still unclear, Hamburg, a city in northern Germany, seems to be the center of the outbreak. The statement said that the infected people had been “significantly more frequent consumers of raw tomatoes, cucumbers and lettuce” than the average person.
Comparing two days ago to today, the total number of E. coli-infected people or those who experienced the deadly complication that affects the blood and kidneys rose from around 1,500 to 1,730. That includes 520 cases of the more threatening problem, known as hemolytic uremic syndrome.
At first, Germany blamed Spanish-grown cucumbers for the outbreak. Even after that evaluation was dismissed, Spanish cucumber crops have remained virtually unsellable, leaving the Spanish farmers up in arms.
As of now, 10 countries have reported cases of the bacteria. And according to the World Health Organization, all but two cases were found in people who had recently visited Germany.
