After an initial report maligning Spanish-grown cucumbers and a second prematurely implicating German-grown bean sprouts, German health authorities have come under fire from European Union health authorities as they struggle to identify the source of the enterohaemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) infections centered in Northern Germany.
According to a June 7 update from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, EHEC cases continue to climb, with 23 deaths and more than 2,400 cases of either hemorrhagic diarrhea or hemolytic uremic syndrome linked to EHEC infection since May 2. The vast majority of cases are from, or have a history of recent travel to, northern Germany, the ECDC said.
Last month, health officials in Hamburg fingered cucumbers from Spain as a probable source, then quickly acknowledged their error. Though some samples had tested positive for E. coli, it turned out that these were of a different serogroup than that implicated in the current outbreak and were likely contaminated after exportation. The European Union subsequently lifted warnings on Spanish cucumbers.
On June 5, health authorities in the German state of Lower Saxony said they had identified bean sprouts from an organic farm in that state as a likely cause of infection.
By late June 6, more than half the samples sent out for testing had been returned negative, with the rest of the results pending.
On June 7, John Dalli, the European Commissioner for Health and Consumer Policy, addressed the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, in advance of an emergency meeting scheduled for later the same day in Luxembourg to address the ongoing epidemiologic investigations, which some authorities suspect may turn up empty due to the length of time passed since the onset of the outbreak.
"I would like to stress that it is crucial that national authorities do not rush to give information on [any] source of infection which is not proven by bacteriological analysis," Mr. Dalli said. Referring specifically to Germany’s recent pinpointing of the organic sprouts farm, Mr. Dalli urged authorities to "make sure not to make premature conclusions."