Source of Europe's E. coli outbreak still baffles experts

The European Union appeared to make little progress Tuesday in agreeing on a common response to a mysterious outbreak of an E. coli bacteria strain.

A joint statement by member states after hours of deliberation tried to correct the number of victims, saying nine had died in Germany, with five more still pending confirmation. The statement also said fewer than 500 cases had been reported throughout Europe, instead of the 1,000 earlier reported cases.

Two separate EU meetings, one of agriculture officials in Hungary and another of health officials in Brussels, offered little reassurance that member countries had overcome mistrust after a week-long blame game. Member states and the commission “encouraged Germany to take all necessary measures in order to identify, as soon as possible, all sources linked to the outbreak and the way the contamination occurred.”

Agriculture officials agreed to meet next week, only after Germany conceded that Spanish produce was not the origin. And health officials only recommended applying “common hygiene rules to limit the risk of contamination.”

“This issue is an absolute priority,” said EU Health Commissioner John Dalli in a statement released late Tuesday. “The European Commission is working with the German authorities, in particular, to ensure that the source of the problem is identified in order to be able to propose relevant solutions.”

“It is positive that the number of new infection cases seems to be declining, but all authorities must ensure continuous surveillance, which is crucial at this stage, as we are still working to pin down the possible source of contamination and eliminate risks for public health,” Mr. Dalli said in the statement.

The outbreak is limited geographically to the Hamburg area in Germany, and the cases that have appeared elsewhere in Europe affected people who have recently visited Germany.

Women and elderly have been the most affected by what European authorities are calling one of the deadliest E. coli contaminations ever and the biggest in Germany.

In a rare admission, Germany backtracked on what now appears was a precipitous conclusion that Spanish produce was to blame. “Germany recognizes that the Spanish cucumbers are not the cause,” German state secretary for Agriculture Robert Kloos reportedly said Tuesday while at the EU agriculture ministers meeting in Hungary.

1 | 2

Next