Ecoli outbreak death-toll climbs to 30: contamination source still unknown

June 10, 2011 – BONN – The death toll from an outbreak of killer bacteria centered on Germany jumped to at least 30 on Thursday, as EU and Russian leaders got ready to cross swords over Moscow’s ban on EU vegetables. The latest victim was a 57-year-old man in Frankfurt who last month travelled with his wife to the northern city of Hamburg, an epicenter of the outbreak, authorities in the western city said. The death of a 68-year-old man and a 20-year-old woman were also reported in the northern state of Lower Saxony. The toll is now at least 30, including one woman in Sweden who had recently returned from Germany. More than 2,800 people were also ill in at least 14 countries with enterohaemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC) poisoning, which in severe cases can lead to renal failure. Most are women. Germany had expressed hope Wednesday that the worst of the outbreak was over, with Health Minister Daniel Bahr saying the number of new infections was falling. Spain’s Europe minister meanwhile secured a promise from German officials to make amends for earlier incorrectly blaming Spanish cucumbers for the outbreak by helping to repair the image of the country’s produce. “The German government has agreed to make an effort to improve the image of Spanish produce in Germany,” Diego Lopez Garrido said in Berlin after talks with counterpart Werner Hoyer. –The Local