June 1, 2011
A rare strain of Shiga-toxin producing E. coli - the O157:H4 strain – is causing outbreaks in European countries, and the first US cases have recently been identified. The strain causes similar symptoms as the more O157:H7, and officials are in wait-and-see mode to determine if it is more or less virulent.
The cucumbers are suspected to have come from Spain, although the place and mode of contamination is still under investigation. Spain is a little upset about being blamed. Read or view the news report at this BBC link.
Updated June 7: From the CDC’s O104:H4 page (http://www.cdc.gov/ecoli/2011/ecoliO104/). How quickly the status changes! There’s a public relations message in all of this…
- As of June 6, 2011, case counts confirmed by Germany’s Robert Koch Institute* includes 642 patients with hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) – a type of kidney failure that is associated with E. coli or STEC infections – and 15 deaths associated with STEC O104:H4 infection.
- In the United States, one confirmed and three suspected cases of STEC O104:H4 infections have been identified in persons who recently traveled to Hamburg, Germany, where they were likely exposed.
- At this time, a specific food has not been confirmed as the source of the infections. German public health authorities advise against eating raw sprouts, tomatoes, cucumbers, and leafy salads from sources in northern Germany until further notice.
Outbreaks like these bring home the global village we live in – it’s not that we should not eat imported foods (or export from our own countries), but we should recognize that just as we share the benefits of global trade of products and ideas, we also share the risks.
