New form of E.Coli outbreak in Europe.

No1Doyen


Joined: 04/07/2008
Posts: 16617

Message Posted:
03/06/2011 00:14

The E. coli outbreak in Germany is a new form of the bacterium, researchers and public health experts believe.



The infection can cause the deadly complication - haemolytic-uraemic syndrome (HUS) - affecting the blood and kidneys.



More than 1,500 people have been infected and 18 have died: 17 in Germany and one in Sweden.



In the UK, three British nationals have been infected - all had visited Germany.



The World Health Organisation said the variant had "never been seen in an outbreak situation before."



Scientists at the Beijing Genomics Institute in China are also reported as saying the new form was "highly infectious and toxic."

No1Doyen


Joined: 04/07/2008
Posts: 16617

Message Posted:
03/06/2011 00:15

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-13626499

No1Doyen


Joined: 04/07/2008
Posts: 16617

Message Posted:
03/06/2011 00:16

Professor Gad Frankel, from Imperial College London, the Sanger Institute and the Medical Research Council, said: "This is a new combination and a deadly combination.



"It has a gene which produces a toxin and another which helps the bacterium colonise the gut more efficiently, which effectively means even more toxin is produced.



"Research we published last year showed this same factor mediates attachment to the human gut and the surface of salad leaves."

No1Doyen


Joined: 04/07/2008
Posts: 16617

Message Posted:
03/06/2011 00:17

The outbreak remains centred on Germany, where there have been 1,064 cases of bloody diarrhoea and 470 cases of the potentially deadly complication in the blood and kidneys.



The source of the infection, originally blamed on Spanish cucumbers, is unclear.



Continue reading the main story

HUS cases and deaths, by country





Germany: 470 cases, 17 deaths

Sweden: 15 cases, one death

Denmark: Seven cases

The Netherlands: Three cases

UK: Three cases

Spain: One case

Sources: European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, Robert Koch Institute, UK Health Protection Agency



The head of the Robert Koch Institute, which monitors the infection in Germany, said the outbreak could last for months and that "we may never know" the original source.



Fresh vegetables from the European Union have been banned in Russia and the country's chief medical officer said such produce will be seized.

No1Doyen


Joined: 04/07/2008
Posts: 16617

Message Posted:
03/06/2011 00:18

Three British nationals in the UK have been infected with E. coli linked to the outbreak in Germany, according to the Health Protection Agency.



It brings the total number of cases in the UK to seven, the other four are from Germany.



It is believed that all patients caught the infection in Germany and brought it back to the UK.



Three of them have developed the potentially deadly complication of HUS.