A deadly outbreak of E.coli centered in Germany and spreading across Europe is caused by a dangerous new strain, Chinese scientists who analysed the bacteria said.
The scientists said the outbreak, which has killed 17 and made more than 1,500 others ill in at least 10 European countries and is thought to come from vegetables, carried genes making it resistant to several classes of antibiotics.
“This E. coli is a new strain of bacteria that is highly infectious and toxic,” said the scientists at the Beijing Genomics Institute in Shenzhen city in southern China who are collaborating with colleagues in Germany. World Health Organisation spokesperson Aphaluck Bhatiasevi said the WHO was waiting for more information from laboratories. “This strain has never been seen in an outbreak situation before,” he said.
The World Health Organisation said it had also been notified of cases in Austria, Denmark, France, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and Britain.
All these cases except two are in people who had recently visited northern Germany or in one case, had contact with a visitor from northern Germany, it said. There are many hospitalised patients, several of them requiring intensive care, including dialysis due to kidney complications.
EU officials have said three cases of E.coli linked to the German outbreak have also been reported in the United States.
The experts also say they are shocked by the outbreak, which is on a scale never seen before in the region.
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