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E.Coli outbreak: clear shops of German food to cut risk, says leading microbiologist
British supermarkets should withdraw German produce from their shelves to reduce the risk of an outbreak of a deadly strain of E. Coli, one of Britain's leading microbiologists has said.
As four more cases of the food poisoning bacteria were diagnosed in Britain yesterday, retailers were continuing to import vegetables including cauliflower, sweetcorn and cabbage from Germany despite concerns that the highly toxic bacteria is being spread by contaminated produce.
Tesco and Lidl confrmed that they had "small quantities" of German produce in their stores.
Hugh Pennington, an emeritus professor of bacteriology at Aberdeen University, said: "They [the supermarkets] should take a safety first approach and if it is a small amount of produce they should remove it from the shelves. This is a very dangerous bug because a surprisingly large proportion of the people who have been infected have gone on to develop nasty complications."
The World Health Organisation yesterday confirmed that there has been the first case of the bacteria spreading from person-to-person.The individual from Norway became infected after coming into contact with someone who had visited North Germany.
Andrea Ellis, an epidemiologist at the World Health Organisation, said: "There has been a case identified where there has been person-to-person transmission. It is something we worry about with any kind of bacteria."
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The outbreak has killed 18 people in Europe and infected more than 1,800 in 12 countries, including seven in Britain. Almost a third of them are suffering from a life-threatening complication which can cause kidney failure.
Nearly all of the victims are understood to have been infected in Germany, the centre of the outbreak. Health officials in the US yesterday described the strain as the "deadliest on record".
A total of 11 cases have now been diagnosed in Britain, including three people with serious complications and eight with bloody diarrhoea. All the victims had recently travelled to Germany.
Experts are still unable to say where the outbreak originated, having ruled out the initial theory that it came from a consignment of Spanish cucumbers. Germany has set up a task force to find the source.
Vladimir Putin, the Russian Prime Minister, said yesterday that his government would continue to enforce an import ban on raw vegetables from Europe because it did not want to "poison our people".
The Health Protection Agency has issued a warning urging people travelling to Germany to avoid eating raw tomatoes, cucumbers and leafy salad, including lettuce. It has urged anyone returning from Germany with an illness, including bloody diarrhoea, to seek medical attention.
The bacteria has been identified as a “completely new” mutant strain which is more toxic and infectious than usual varieties.
Professor Giuseppe Cornaglia, president of the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ESCMID), said: "This most recent E.coli epidemic, of a strain previously unseen in an outbreak, shows us yet again that new bacteria and infections are just around the corner, and we are far from winning the fight against infectious diseases in Europe.
"It reminds us that we continue to face new challenges, and must ensure we are vigilant in our preparedness, including monitoring, detection, and speedy and appropriate treatment."
The Food Standards Agency said there was no evidence that the German produce being imported to Britain was contaminated.
A spokesman for Tesco said its suppliers followed the "strictest" hygeine standards. He said: "As the FSA has confirmed there is no indication of contaminated product on our shelves." Lidl said it will stop importing cauliflowers from Germany next week.
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