THE killer E.coli outbreak sweeping Europe has been unmasked as a new super– virulent mutant strain.
Three Brits are among seven people taken ill with the bug in the UK, all of whom are thought to have contracted it in Germany.
The World Health Organisation yesterday revealed it is a combination of two particularly dangerous aggressive bacteria.
The infection, thought to have been spread through Spanish cucumbers, has already killed 18 people on the continent.
Alarming symptoms including epilepsy, headaches and slurred speech are being reported.
INFECTED
WHO expert Hilde Kruse said: “This is a unique E.coli strain that has never been isolated from patients before. It has various characteristics that make it more virulent and toxin-producing.”
There have been 180 new cases in the past 24 hours in Germany but no sign of what is causing this outbreak, known as enterohamorrhagic E.coli or EHEC.
A total of 1,064 have been infected with 17 killed in Germany and one in Sweden.
Chinese scientists worked around the clock to crack the bug’s DNA. They said victims are likely to suffer from bloody diarrhoea and kidney failure. There is no evidence that produce from possible sources has been distributed in the UK. But the Health Protection Agency warned people travelling to Germany to avoid eating raw tomatoes, cucumbers and leafy salad including lettuce, especially in the north. Officials are urging tourists returning from the country with an illness, including bloody diarrhoea, to seek immediate medical help.
Victims can require hospital treatment because E.coli affects the blood, kidneys and, in severe cases, attacks the central nervous system. Many of those hit are young women and one suggestion is it is because they eat more salad and vegetables than men.
Dr Dilys Morgan of the HPA said: “We are continuing to monitor the situation very carefully and we are working with the authorities in Germany and with our counterparts across Europe as to the cause of the outbreak.
“We have advised doctors to report suspected cases with a German travel history.”
E.coli can be passed from person to person but experts say there is no evidence this is happening in any significant numbers in this outbreak. Bugs are usually transmitted when infected people do not take proper hygiene measures such as washing their hands.
Stephen Smith, a lecturer in clinical microbiology at Trinity College, Dublin, said new technology had deciphered the gene sequence of the killer bug in just three days. Five years ago it would have taken three years.
He described the bug as a “mongrel bacterium” made up of two nasty types of E.coli.
DISPUTE
Paul Hunter, a professor of health protection at the University of East Anglia, said the number of new cases would likely slow to a trickle in the next few days.
He said the incubation period for this type of E.coli is around three to eight days, and most people recover within 10 days.
Prof Hunter said: “Salads have a relatively short shelf life and it is likely the contaminated food would have been consumed in one to two weeks.”
Officials in Spain dispute that the bug originated there and have threatened legal action against Germany after they identified cucumbers from the country as being the source of the outbreak.
On Monday, Andalusian Agriculture and Fisheries minister Clara Aguilera ate a cucumber in a bid to prove they are safe.
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