Two more deaths in E.coli scare blamed on Spanish cucumbers

The deaths brought to 16 the total number of fatalities linked to the E.coli outbreak, with north-western Germany the hardest-hit region.

Hospital officials in Boras, Sweden, announced the death of woman in her 50s who was admitted on May 29 after a trip to Germany.

In Paderborn, Germany, the local council said an 87-year-old woman who also suffered from other ailments had died.

In Germany, the national disease control centre said 373 people were sick with the most serious form of the outbreak – haemolytic uremic syndrome, or HUS, a rare complication arising from an infection most commonly associated with E.coli. That figure was up from the 329 reported on Monday.

Susanne Glasmacher, a spokeswoman for the Robert Koch Institute, said another 796 people had been affected by the enterohaemorrhagic E.coli, also known as EHEC, bacteria – making a total of more than 1,150 people infected.

Hundreds of people in other European countries have also been affected, but until yesterday Germany had seen the only deaths.

Germany’s Federal Institute for Risk Assessment is still warning consumers to avoid all cucumbers, lettuces and raw tomatoes as the outbreak is investigated.

European Union officials have said that German authorities identified cucumbers from the Spanish regions of Almeria and Malaga as possible sources of contamination and that a third suspect batch, originating either in the Netherlands or in Denmark and traded in Germany, was also under investigation.

They also noted, however, that the transport chain was long, and the cucumbers from Spain could have been contaminated at any point along the route.

The Danish Veterinary and Food Administration said no traces of EHEC bacteria were found in tests conducted over the weekend.

“There is therefore nothing that indicates that Danish cucumbers are the source of the serious E.coli outbreak that has infected several patients in Germany, Denmark and Sweden,” the agency said.

Russia’s chief sanitary agency has banned the imports of cucumbers, tomatoes and fresh salad from Spain and Germany pending further notice.

It said in a statement that it may even ban the imports of fresh vegetables from all European Union member states owing to the lack of information about the source of infection.

Officials from the Food Standards Agency are monitoring the situation closely but have said there is as yet no evidence affected produce has been distributed in the UK.

The Health Protection Agency has recommended British travellers to Germany follow the advice of the authorities and avoid raw tomatoes, cucumbers and lettuce, in particular in the north of the country.

Anyone returning from Germany with illness including bloody diarrhoea should seek urgent medical attention and make sure they mention any recent travel history.

Doctors in England have seen a handful of cases in German nationals and other European countries including the Netherlands and Denmark, as well as Sweden, are also seeing cases among returning travellers.

Many more people are believed to have suffered the illness than official figures suggest but they developed milder symptoms.