Germany: E. coli Outbreak

German E. coli Outbreak Widens

By LAURA STEVENS

FRANKFURT—Two more deaths were linked to Germany's outbreak of E. coli bacterial infections Tuesday, including the first outside the country, bringing the toll to 16 reported fatalities and around 400 severe cases.

Spanish cucumbers are being blamed for an E. coli outbreak that killed 10 people in Germany and sickened hundreds. Video courtesy of Reuters and photo courtesy of Getty Images.

The outbreak, centered in northern Germany, is costing farmers and retailers in Europe millions of euros as mountains of raw vegetables, suspected of being contaminated, sit uneaten— though it isn't clear what has caused the infections. The aggressive strain has now spread to six other European countries.

All the cases so far have been linked to northern Germany. A Swedish woman who died Tuesday who had recently traveled there. According to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control in Stockholm, the disease is normally foodborne, but person-to-person transmission is possible. The strain, known as enterohemorrhagic E. coli, can cause bloody diarrhea and kidney failure.

Most of the deaths have been attributed to hemolytic-uremic syndrome, the result of a severe manifestation of the disease that shuts down the kidneys, though some of those who died didn't have the syndrome.

The strain has proved unusually resistant to treatment, and victims range from young to old, although most are women. According to the Robert Koch Institute, a research facility funded by the German health ministry, an additional 800 people have suffered from a milder version of the infection.

Around 1,000 people in Germany contract E. coli food poisoning in an average year, but most cases are minor.

Germany first reported a rise in E. coli cases on May 22. Similar cases have been reported in Sweden, the U.K., Denmark, France, Switzerland, the Netherlands, and several other countries. Those concerned had all traveled to northern Germany, the Robert Koch Institute said.

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Tobias Schwarz/Reuters

Cucumbers at a market in Berlin's Kreuzberg district Friday.

Hamburg city health authorities reported last week that they had found traces of the E. coli bacteria on cucumbers imported from Spain. On Tuesday, however, Hamburg officials said the bacteria on the Spanish cucumbers didn't match the strain behind the human infections, increasing the mystery about what triggered the outbreak. German authorities also have identified shipments of cucumbers from Denmark and the Netherlands as potential sources.

The Spanish government said none of the country's products had been found to be contaminated. Nevertheless, many nations have put partial bans on Spanish vegetables, including tomatoes and cucumbers. This has been a huge hit to Spain, where agriculture makes up about 15% of gross domestic product. The crisis is affecting 70,000 jobs in Spain, Fernando Marcen, head of Spain's Agricultural Cooperatives, said Tuesday.

Spain's Agriculture Minister Rosa Aguilar on Tuesday said the country intends to ask for emergency funds from the European Union.

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Reuters

Farmers in El Ejido, southeastern Spain, dispose of cucumbers after failing to sell them. Imported Spanish cucumbers had been suspected in an E. coli outbreak in Germany, though Spain has denied contamination and German authorities on Tuesday said tests didn't show a connection.

Restaurants in Germany posted notices telling customers raw vegetables have been washed thoroughly. Several German grocery-store chains have stopped selling Spanish cucumbers.

"Consumer uncertainty is still quite strong," the German Farmers' Association said in a statement . "For vegetable growers, the collapse of the market is leading to a significant loss of income." Lidl, a grocery store with 3,200 locations in Germany, has stopped selling Spanish cucumbers, a spokesman confirmed. REWE, another German chain, offered refunds to customers who wanted to return Spanish cucumbers and also pulled the produce from its shelves.

Doctors at the University of Hannover's medical school say they may have discovered a treatment—an antibody from a U.S. firm that has proved effective in treating 17 cases in the past week.

While not intended for E. coli treatment, the antibody had been used a handful of times previously in E. coli cases, prompting the Hannover doctors to request the drug and use it in treating the German outbreak.

A university spokesman warned that more testing will be needed before the treatment is proven as a cure and that the measure is only used after all other treatment options have failed.

—David Roman and Ana Garcia contributed to this article.

Write to Laura Stevens at laura.stevens@wsj.com

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