How can this epidemic be stopped?

I don’t know about where these cucumbers were grown, but some similar outbreaks in the US have been traced to unsanitary practices by fieldworkers. Unfortunately, they are not usually provided with sufficient restroom facilities, nor are their overseers very tolerant of bathroom breaks. So they just defecate in the fields. Proper hygiene (and provisions so workers can practice it!) could go a long way towards preventing this.

Stop eating cucumbers, it is known carrier. Easier said than done.

@crisw said it, clean up the fields and it will stop future issues and deaths

… I thought as of today they ruled out the cucumbers? Regardless if it has come from workers unsanitary ‘practices’ in the fields, I would suggest the same as @crisw to upgrade their working conditions, it needs to be done here in the U.S anyway. My other thought is that whatever they find the source to be that it could be from produce planed near a large source of untreated waste-water.
Feed-lot run-off and dust from feed-lots drifting is also a source of e-coli in produce here in the U.S. but it’s my understanding that they do not have ‘feed-lots’ per se in Europe

Certainly a longer-term solution, but I think more research in intestinal flora will be very useful. Given the growing incidence and prevalence of obesity, research into poor diet/overeating and it’s effects on gut flora would be quite interesting.

It is plausable that certain flora combinations may contribute to an effective/ineffective immune response.

There are growing numbers of emerging pathogens, as well as increasing pathogenicity of known bacteria and viruses. It seems to me that supporting optimal immune function and providing less-than-desirable environments for pathogens through optimal normal flora is the way to go.

In addition, proper hygiene and cooking standards must be adhered to.

What was the story awhile back where there was some outbreak in meat and it was determined to be some poisonous legume from a tree over a livestock pen? It sounds like this sad and scary case may be from the cattle manure being used as fertilizer.

Cook everything until the cause is found and remedied.

@JLeslie cook cucumber? Are you sure? ;P

Do you think peeling the skin off the cucumber would make it safe? Or is the ecoli inside them?

@Stinley Some ethnic dishes do have cooked cucumber, parts of Asia, but yes, I think peeling it would greatly reduce a chance of ecoli. What I really meant was stick to cooked veggies, which might mean no fresh salad until they figure it out, or completely avoid whaveter veg is in question. Stay with cooked green beans, peas, carrots, corn, whatever you like to eat cooked.

Good advice @JLeslie. It seems that people are avoiding salads. My daughter was listening to the news and told me not to buy cucumbers

Thanks for your answers. Yesterday, Russia banned all EU vegetables as a result of the E.coli scare. Senior EU health officials immediately objected. The Kremlin’s decision was an indication of how the outbreak risked escalating into a broader panic over allegedly tainted cucumbers. The bacteria has killed 17 people, almost all in Germany. Two weeks after the first reports, European health experts have still failed to isolate the source of the E. coli. World Health Organisation officials said on Thursday that the bacteria strain, which has led to illness in more than 1,600 people in 10 European countries, had never had never caused an outbreak in humans in the past. All cases, including seven people in the UK who have been infected, have been linked to recent travel in Germany.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/ecf4d4ec-8cf7-11e0-815d-00144feab49a.html#axzz1OCtihhsl

I wonder why it’s so difficult to determine the source. The ECEH strain found on the Spanish cucumbers is obviously not the one causing kidney failure. Now Spain demands compensation from German taxpayers, because the German CDC had issued a warning. German officials are saying the institute had no choice but to issue the warning because ECEH bacteria were found. What a mess.

Yes, my wife and I have stopped eating uncooked vegetables and salads. I think cooked cucumbers don’t taste very good. So we’re sticking to cooking zucchini, tomatoes, sweet pepper and so forth.

But every day on the evening news more infections are being reported. We need to find the source. Why is this so difficult? Most infected people are being interviewed about their recent eating habits. There must be a connection. What is it?

@mattbrowne I don’t understand why it is so hard to narrow down the source either. Scary when these things happen, goodness knows we have had our share of these type of things in America.

I don’t see how Spain can demand money, this is just one of those things. Germany did not cut of Spanish produce on purpose to hurt Spanish farmers and businesses.

Maybe it is a water source? Infection from washing the produce? I am sure they have thought of that though.

It would depend 1st on the CDC making the determination of how long this strain of e-coli takes to show symptoms in people…
Then you’d have to gather all the people who have been infected and have them remember every single thing they ate and drank during that estimated incubation period before they presented with symptoms
Then you have to look at the similarities in all diets and start looking at the source of all the similarities.

THEN factor in that they may be dealing with more than one strain and you have a whole other set of problems to deal with
That’s an over-simplified way of explaining the process but its tedious and full of possibilities for human error.

The institute is working around the clock. There are two new conflicting potential sources but nothing conclusive:

“A restaurant in the northern coastal city of Luebeck, near Hamburg, was probed by health experts after 17 people who had eaten there became infected with the virulent strain known as enterohaemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC), the regional daily Luebecker Nachrichten reported. However, Focus magazine reported the origin could lie in an anniversary celebration for the port of Hamburg at the beginning of May. The celebrations drew around 1.5 million visitors over the period May 6–8. Both reports were based on information that experts from the Berlin-based Robert Koch Institute, which is responsible for disease control and prevention and falls under the federal Health Ministry, had probed the conflicting theories.”

http://www.timeslive.co.za/world/article1101215.ece/Conflicting-theories-on-source-of-E-coli-strain

Looks like it’s veggie sprouts from an area between Hamburg & Hannover.

@obvek thanks fo link

Veggie sprouts are also known as beansprouts in case anyone else was wondering – I’d not heard them called veggie sprouts before.

Seems like its all from one organic farm. I didn’t know that organic farms use more manure than other farms

@stinley A study done in America a while back, probably 15 years ago, showed organic has more bacteria than mass produced. Obviously the bacteria number was still typically within acceptible limits, but still it was inteesting. What organic was better at was no pesticides amd the farmers generally rotate the crops more I think, and are more local and pick closer to ripe, so nutrients should be better.

Sprouts are hydroponic, that is grown in a non-soil / no dirt containers. The problem is the container can get bizarre germs and things growing in them.

@Tropical_Willie yes, the article said that they used steam in the growing container which would be a good bacteria breeding ground.

I have never been keen on eating uncooked bean sprouts, maybe it was intuitive.

Now the first 23 of 40 samples show no E. Coli in the sprout farm. The saga continues and like was said already ( @mattbrowne ) there is no easy answer.

Thanks. In a German news report from 2 hours ago it was mentioned that some of the sprout seeds were imported from Asia. About ten years ago there was already an EHEC epidemic in Asia which involved 10,000 people. I can’t find any reference to this, though. The German article also mentioned that EHEC can be present in seeds and when planted the sprouts’ greenhouses provide an ideal environment for the bacteria to multiply.

Maybe they can irradiate or “pasteurize” them to ensure they are safe? But, then I guess they cannot be called organic? Or, can they?

I read that while irradiation of sprout seeds could improve the safety of sprouts, it could adversely affect the viability of seeds. Not sure, though.

@mattbrowne I meant before placed on grocery market shelves. Not the seeds, but the sprouts.

@JLeslie – I see. So I wonder why isn’t this routine yet. There must be some downside too.

Zje EHEC epidemic in Asia which involved 10,000 people happened in 1996 in Japan. I saw a report on tv last night. Eight people were killed. The strain was less toxic than this new one, but still very potent. In the next seven years, 14 people died during sporadic outbreaks. Japanese health authorities had at first suspected of radish sprouts, but no evidence was finally coming back up these charges and the origin of the epidemic has never been established.

http://www.pisqa.com/06/ehec-bacteria-doubt-on-the-role-of-germs-but-maintaining-the-alert/

@mattbrowne This is interesting. The first paragraph of the wikipedia page says it inhibits sproutIng. However, if already sprouted I would think it is ok. But maybe when sent to market it continues sprouting?

CDC on the topic

This shows the symbol for irradiate foods. I assume it is international?

If you google there is a a lot of info on irradiation. People for and agaist it I have no opinion on the matter, I would have to learn more. Certainly cancer in 40 years is better than dying tomorrow froma bacterial infection. Maybe I will do a fluther Q about it.

@JLeslie – Yes, it is international, but opinions about it differ from country to country, see

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_irradiation#Current_EU_market

http://foodirradiationwatch.org/about/

Yes, cancer in 40 years is better than dying tomorrow from a bacterial infection. The question is, how can we avoid both?

@mattbrowne Of course I agree. I do buy pasteurized eggs when I plan not cooking them thoroughly, otherwise I buy regular eggs. So limiting risk at both ends so to speak. I buy very few veggies in a bag, so I figure my vegetables are not irradiated? Not sure. Now I am curious. I never look for that symbol, and I don’t know if it is required in the US to put the symbol.

The source has now been identified:

http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,767935,00.html

“Scientists have finally managed to prove that the pathogens that caused a deadly E. coli epidemic in Germany were found on sprouts at a farm in Lower Saxony. Authorities are still puzzled as to how the deadly bacteria got there.”

In our newspaper there was a report about digital photos taken by tourists in restaurants which helped tremendously in the search. Some tourists were infected and others were not. Many could not remember excactly what they had eaten. The plates on the tables offer the clue. Sprouts or no sprouts. Amazing. Local people did not take pictures when eating at their restaurant. Some clever detective must have thought of this.

Maybe it was a fan of Mr. Monk.

The final missing step is the exact nature of the contamination itself. More detective work ahead.

In Scotland cattle dung is the main source of E coli. I wouldn’t be surprised if the organic farm used such stuff as fertiliser.

@flutherother – Thanks for the article. It discusses E coli O157. The new super-toxic strain was labeled O104. Here’s another interesting article, explaining why all this has global consequences

http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2011/06/germanys-e-coli-outbreak-a-global-lesson/

Latest update:

“The EU has banned the import of seeds from Egypt, including fenugreek seeds, after they were identified as the probable cause of recent E.coli 104 H4 outbreaks which killed 48 people in Germany, sickened about 4000 and affected 15 people in France.”

http://www.foodproductiondaily.com/Quality-Safety/EU-bans-deadly-Egyptian-seeds-after-E.coli-report

I read a couple of articles about the ban @mattbrowne. How amazing they could pinpoint the source of the contamination. That is good news. But it is another blow to Egypt’s economy.

@bkcunningham – Yes, I’m glad too, because in the past for several less severe EHEC outbreaks the sources were never identified. It’s a tragedy for Egypt indeed.