German E.Coli Outbreak Is Finished: Authorities

The recent E.coli outbreak in Germany that killed more than 50 people this year has ended, health authorities said Tuesday.

The Robert Koch Institute, Germany's national disease control centre, said that the last new case of enterohaemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC) was recorded three weeks ago, which covers the illness's incubation period.

E.coli Outbreak Blamed On Egyptian Fenugreek Seeds
Fenugreek seeds exported from Egypt to France and Germany may have caused an E. coli outbreak that has killed 48 people in Europe, the European Food Safety Authority said Wednesday.

"As the RKI has not had any new infections linked to this outbreak reported since then, the RKI considers the outbreak to be over," it said in a statement.

It said it would continue surveillance for the highly virulent bacteria strain which claimed the lives of 52 people, all but two in Germany, and sickened more than 4,000 people.

The outbreak peaked in late May.

EU Food Agency Stresses Sprouts Must be Cooked to Avoid E.coli
Thorough cooking of fenugreek sprouts following outbreaks of E.coli linked to sprouts in France and Germany has been recommended by European Union food safety and disease prevention agencies.

The European Food Safety Agency this month slapped a temporary ban on all seeds and beans from Egypt after it blamed a batch of contaminated fenugreek seeds imported to Germany and then distributed elsewhere for the infections.

The seeds were later used to grow salad sprouts, which most victims had eaten before falling ill.

E.Coli Scare: Food Watchdog Advises Against Raw Sprouted Seeds
Britain's Food Standards Agency has recommended that sprouted seeds be cooked thoroughly before consumption, and advised against eating them raw, following an outbreak of E.

German authorities had initially pointed to Spanish cucumbers in error, dealing a stinging blow to the country's farming industry at the height of the fresh vegetable season and straining ties between the two countries.

Source-AFP

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An E.coli strain blamed for killing dozens of people in Germany is found to be a genetic mix and its ability to stick to the intestinal walls may have made it so lethal, says study.