E. coli strain behind German deaths apparently resurfaces in France

E. coli strain behind German deaths apparently resurfaces in France

Paris (CNN) -- The strain of E. coli blamed for 46 deaths in Germany appears to have resurfaced in France, the French Ministry of Health said. The new outbreak has sickened eight people, who went to two hospitals in Bordeaux, authorities said. Officials interviewed seven of them, all of whom reported having attended an open house at a children's recreation center. Six of them reported having eaten sprouts during the visit, "particularly used in decoration of a gazpacho," the health ministry said.

Source

So, is this proof of an engineered virus that is now being tested for viability on a wider stage, or is it a new naturally occurring virulent strain of an old enemy?

Later in the article it does say

A "tracing study carried out by the Directorate General for Competition, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Control" showed the sprouts came from fenugreek, mustard and arugula seeds supplied by British company Thompson & Morgan, a statement from Frederic Lefebvre said. "The link between symptoms and the consumption of these seeds is not definitively established to date."

So maybe they are just wrong?

The latest Centers for Disease Control report on the Germany outbreak has this to say:

As of June 22, 2011, Germany’s Robert Koch Institute (RKI)* reports 823 patients with hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS)–a type of kidney failure that is associated with Shiga toxin-producing E. coli, or STEC, infections–and 29 deaths associated with HUS. In the United States, five confirmed cases and one suspect case of STEC O104:H4 infection have been identified. One death has been reported in an Arizona resident who had recently traveled to Germany. This case has not yet been confirmed to have STEC O104:H4 and is currently under investigation. On June 10, 2011, RKI announced that contaminated raw sprouts from one farm in Germany are the likely source of the outbreak. This farm has been closed and the sprouts produced there are no longer in restaurants or store shelves in Germany. Over the past few weeks, the number of cases associated with this outbreak has markedly decreased.

CDC



If the German seeds came from one farm, how did the seeds used in France come from England? Unless the British supplier was selling seeds it had obtained from the German farm. After all the publicity associated with the German outbreak, if the British supplier DID sell seeds from this one farm they are certainly wide open for legal action!

Another possible cause would be some type of insecticide or preservative spray that was the actual cause of the initial outbreak was used by the second firm as well. Who knows? But this second outbreak is certainly frightening to me!