E. coli outbreak is a new strain

reply to post by Itop1


I'm just happy to see a discussion on this. My own 2 cents is that this is a very serious instability in the food distribution system. How many people in Europe are scared to eat raw veggies. How many veggies are being destroyed due to lack of demand?

This episode may blow over, but the hits will just keep coming until the distribution system collapses because it is a larger and more appealing target (each year) for our microscopic cousins.

18 Dead from new e.coli strain

nows there 1 more dead in UK, looks like this one is spreading fast.

Canadian MSM is now reporting as well

The Star

Canadian experts in E. coli bacteria say a mutant strain spreading across Europe is alarming in the way it keeps eluding scientists. “We could be seeing another Walkerton,” professor Keith Warriner of the University of Guelph said Thursday. “A water supply contaminated with sewage or manure.” Water is a likely culprit, agreed Dr. Herb Schellhorn, whose lab at McMaster University specializes in studying E. coli bacteria. “You think it would be fairly easy, but it isn’t,” said Schellhorn. “Any type of food that has water processing is a likely candidate.”

June 2nd
news.sciencemag.org...

"BGI, which has made the sequence available for researchers to download, says the analysis also confirmed that the microbe is resistant to many antibiotics. These include aminoglycoside, the macrolides, and the beta-lactams—"all of which makes antibiotic treatment extremely difficult," according to the press release. However, German EHEC patients aren't treated with antibiotics; most scientists believe they make matters worse, because killing EHEC results in the release of more toxin."

I don't think its a bio-attack, at most ( if we keep conspiracy in mind ) it is a test run of the strain to see effects and dispersion rate on living population.

Its not spread enough worldwide and the mortality rate is too low.

I do admit that contaminating food supply is part of my top 3 spots to obliterate a country or the world with a bio-weapon.

If you really want to do a good job :

Get a strain with really high contamination rate, airborne is best.

Bio-engineer it, so no previous immune conditions exists among the population.

Incubation time before any apparent symptoms : 1 to 2 weeks

mortality rate : above 90%

Places to contaminate that guaranteed you success : International airport, food supply chain, money.

After doing that, everybody can kiss their *** good bye.


To be more realistic, i think its not a intentional man made disease but i do think human have something to do with that.

With all the pollution, crap, toxic waste, bio waste, medication, radioactivity, etc... etc...for 1000 pages of stuff we dump in nature, i think its "normal" that bacteria, virus and all living things mutate at some point.

End of the world : 1
Humanity : 0

Actually American centers for disease control identified this strain back in the 1990's in Korea.

Frankly I am suprise there haven't been more outbreaks of bizarre virulent infections given animal husbandry and eating habits of some people today. This, combined with more and more people travelling from country to country, makes it inevitable.

I SWEAR a month or so ago, I read about the possibilities of a drug resistant type of e-coli. It was on msn. Just a "what if" article. Now it's happening...

I hate this. I am a gigantic germaphobe. And I have Crohn's disease... so any type of stomach disturbance makes me sick for MONTHS.

reply to post by Ghandi


Yea, this could very well be the culprit behind this outbreak in Northen Germany.

“A water supply contaminated with sewage or manure.” Water is a likely culprit, agreed Dr. Herb Schellhorn, whose lab at McMaster University specializes in studying E. coli bacteria. “You think it would be fairly easy, but it isn’t,” said Schellhorn. “Any type of food that has water processing is a likely candidate.”

Yep, I really hope they also take samples from water treatment plants and water supplies in Northen Germany, and not only focus on those vegetables - like it said in the article: food that has water processing and probably other places where processing of food occur.

It's also very strange that mostly women in their mid 30's are affected in this outbreak.

I think I read that most of the people infected in Sweden have one thing in common, they all visited one area in Northen Germany.

So, what more do we know?

Many people/tourists/travellers were visiting the same cities/areas in Northen Germany and got infected, most of the affected are apparently women in their mid 30's and 40's.

What more could it be beside food and water that make women more affected in this outbreak?

Where can they get infected, if not from food & water?

Ladies Restrooms?

reply to post by Emphursis


Over the course of 3 weeks I had 8/10 of the symptoms for this condition at some point or another during the time. It ended about a week and a half ago.

Signs and symptoms of hemolytic uremic syndrome may include:

Bloody diarrhea
Vomiting
Abdominal pain
Pale skin tone
Fatigue and irritability
Fever, usually not high
Small, unexplained bruises or bleeding from the nose and mouth
Decreased urination or blood in the urine
Swelling of the face, hands, feet or entire body
Confusion


I would think this a simple mutation. It seems like nowadays everyone automatically assumes that a new strain means 'genetically altered by a scientist'. People, we mutated from blobs of mass into upright skeletal, super beings. Albeit it was over a very long time, but remember, the universe works this way. Things change.

The best way to go about it would be to study the needs for this type of strain, how it could have mutated this way. Look at the best known methods in bio-engineering. Then If its determined that we can manufacture this type of strain, then you have to ask yourself, can nature manufacture this type of strain? If nature can manufacture this strain, then you have to ask yourself, whats reasonable? Manure or sewage in water seems likely, if it can be proven, there you go.

The key fact about this new E coli is its antibiotic resistant.

Man made you bet.

To much antibiotics given to cows and the e coli in there guts mutates.
this get into fields viva contaminated water and you get this.

No need for some military lab to cause it as cattle grower did it for free.

reply to post by ANNED


Really? because I thought that antibiotics & hormones for cattle/livestock was strictly forbidden to use in the European Union

I think it's banned over here my friend!

Originally posted by Chevalerous
reply to post by ANNED

 

Really? because I thought that antibiotics & hormones for cattle/livestock was strictly forbidden to use in the European Union

I think it's banned over here my friend!

Scientist at Cambridge University have not only found a NEWER more RESISTANT strain of MRSA, they have also found it in cows milk there...and in people.

It is directly attributed to antibiotics being used in animals.

Not only that, but people in developing countries or in more "progressive" countries that still insist on eating everything (read every living damn thing, from bats, to poison fish, to frogs and fish) raw, or even alive, and strive for the most bizarre foods because they think it has some sort of super power, are also a source of problems.

A fascinating article about the front line presentation of this monster.

We're sleeping badly, and have bad dreams,' Kiemes says quietly. 'We can't get the images of suffering patients out of our heads.' The neurological breakdowns of patients are particularly concerning. 'When their condition gets worse, then it's dramatic.'

The patients become disoriented, have difficulty expressing themselves, suffer convulsions. Some become apathetic, others make strange noises. Some get such strong cramp attacks they have to be restrained. Since the first EHEC patients arrived in the hospital, the wards treating them have been on a 'complete emergency footing,' Kiemes says. Doctors and co-workers have worked through weekends and days off, delaying their holidays in order to help out. In daily meetings they examine the situation from all angles.

Doctors are battling in the dark, surprised by the length of the illness and its unpredictable developments.

Gastroenterologist Stefan Schreiber bemoans the fact that, despite intensive questioning about eating habits, there has as yet been no eureka moment, when doctors discover which food links the cases. 'It will only be over when we find the source of the infection and we don't have any infections for two, three weeks,' he says.

'It really annoys me that we still haven't found the cause.'

source

Originally posted by TheArchaeologist

Originally posted by Chevalerous
reply to post by ANNED

 

Really? because I thought that antibiotics & hormones for cattle/livestock was strictly forbidden to use in the European Union

I think it's banned over here my friend!

Scientist at Cambridge University have not only found a NEWER more RESISTANT strain of MRSA, they have also found it in cows milk there...and in people.

It is directly attributed to antibiotics being used in animals.

Not only that, but people in developing countries or in more "progressive" countries that still insist on eating everything (read every living damn thing, from bats, to poison fish, to frogs and fish) raw, or even alive, and strive for the most bizarre foods because they think it has some sort of super power, are also a source of problems.

Okey! I found this!

European Union Bans Antibiotics for Growth Promotion

Europe is far ahead of the United States in the responsible use of antibiotics. On January 1, 2006, the European Union banned the feeding of all antibiotics and related drugs to livestock for growth promotion purposes. The sweeping new policy follows up a 1998 ban on the feeding of antibiotics that are valuable in human medicine to livestock for growth promotion. Now, no antibiotics can be used in European livestock for growth promotion purposes.

www.ucsusa.org...

And

The use of antibiotics as growth promoters has been prohibited in the EU since January 1, 2006. Antibiotics had been added in low doses to the feed of farm animals for decades worldwide because they improved the growth rate and efficiency of conversion of feed into carcass meat in pigs, poultry and cattle. Their use increased average daily growth and food conversion ratios by 3 per cent to 11 per cent depending on species. The ban was the final step in the phasing out of antibiotics used for non-medicinal purposes in the EU and antibiotics are now only allowed to be added to animal feed for veterinary purposes. Antibiotics are still used widely as feed additives for growth promotion in many countries outside the EU.

Apparently, since 2006 it's only allowed to give livestock antibiotics WHEN/IF the animals are sick:

antibiotics are now only allowed to be added to animal feed for veterinary purposes.

www.bsas.org.uk...

reply to post by Chevalerous


mutant strains of E. coli are caused by feeding cattle grains instead of grass, which is their natural food. It has nothing to do with giving antibiotics to the cattle.

www.nbafoodadvocate.com...

Tired of Control Freaks

While the threat is legit, there are those of us who aren't afraid. Yesterday we went out for lunch and got donner kebabs for lunch. I got extra cucumbers on mine.
There are warnings now, 24/7 about certain foods and veggies, cleaning & prepping foods.

The threat is real, but you can't let it control your life. I have a question though, if it were occuring naturally, (not man-made) then shouldn't the threat have been minimalized? Shouldn't the epidemeologists have found and isolated it by now?
If it were a terrorist threat, then it would not be able to be contained.

Just my two cents.

Fresh vegetables are still the prime suspect, but Flemming Scheutz, head of the WHO Collaborative Centre for Reference and Research on Escherichia and Klebsiella in Copenhagen, suggests that the bacteria might not have originated in the food chain at all. "This strain has never been found in any animal, so it is possible that it could have come from straight from the environment into humans".

Lothar Wieler, a veterinary microbiologist at the Free University of Berlin, cautiously agrees with this theory. In addition to the antibiotic-resistance genes, the bacteria contain a gene for resistance to the mineral tellurite (tellurium dioxide).

Tellurium oxides were used as antimicrobial agents against diseases such as leprosy and tuberculosis before the development of antibiotics. Some strains of bacteria may have evolved resistance to tellurium during its historical medical use, or after its use in the mining and electronics industries increased its presence in the environment. According to Wieler, the strain's resistance characteristics could point towards an environmental source, such as water or soil.
source

Maybe the source isn't vegetable.

any link to baxter industry's in hamburg????
that companie was also discussed with the swine flu outbreak...

So what will happen to those innocent vegetables that go to waste? Aren't people smart and clean enough to wash their veggies THOROUGHLY so as to not contract anything contagious? I can't believe it's food again that's contaminated!

mmmmmmmmmmmmmm isn't it just wonderful. I sense corrupt man getting a wild hair and like a woman pmsing making everybodies life a living hell. as if europe wasn't already up the creek without a paddle. he's a little more I guess swine flu in mexico was just a test, gone wrong cuz mmmmmmmmmmmm there our darn neighbor. thats like if I were to burn a candle at both ends.