Go Camping for 95p! Vouchers collectable in the Daily and Sunday Mirror until 11th August .
SCIENTISTS suffered a big setback in their hunt for the source of a lethal E.coli outbreak yesterday when tests on bean sprouts proved negative.
The vegetable had been the latest to be blamed for the terrifying bug which has killed at least 22 people in Europe.
But experts looked set to rule it out yesterday when 23 of 40 samples were given the all-clear.
It is a major blow for officials in Germany, who have now dismissed Spanish cucumbers, tomatoes and lettuces. More than 2,300 people have fallen ill in over 12 countries including 11 in Britain.
As tests were carried out on the remaining 17 bean sprout samples last night, a German agriculture official admitted: “The search for the outbreak’s cause is very difficult as several weeks have passed since its suspected start.”
Experts thought they had traced the super-toxic strain of E.coli bacteria to the organic farm in Uelzen, south of Hamburg. They said negative test results on sprout batches did not mean earlier produce was not contaminated. It left consumers across Europe puzzled over what was safe to eat.
One of the worst features of the German infection has been the large number of people falling ill with HUS, which causes kidney failure and death.
Dr Stephen Smith, of Trinity College Dublin, said: “E.coli that causes HUS has been shown to bind to alfafa sprouts before. E.coli and salmonella can stick tightly to the surface of seeds needed to make sprouts and lay dormant for months. During germination the population of bugs can expand 100,000 fold. However, and this is probably the key to the German outbreak, the bacteria are inside the sprout tube as well as outside. Thus washing probably had no effect.”
Professor Sally Bloomfield, of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, added: “For anyone returning from Germany who thinks they are infected, it is important to make sure they don’t infect family. This means good hygiene.
3 TWO out of three people do not always wash their hands after going to the toilet, a poll of 2,000 by hygiene firm Initial revealed yesterday.
