News & Perspective

(CIDRAP News) – Germany's infectious disease institute has declared that the Escherichia coli O104:H4 outbreak is over, now that the incubation period for the most recently confirmed case with links to the sprout seed–related event has passed.

– German researchers who were the first to release the initial genome sequence of the Escherichia coli O104:H4 outbreak strain published their in-depth findings yesterday, which found that it differed from a 2001 strain found in Germany, but that both could have evolved from a common progenitor.

(CIDRAP News) – French public health officials have linked five more Escherichia coli O104:H4 infections to the cluster of Bordeaux patients who ate sprouts at an event in early June, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) reported today.

(CIDRAP News) – The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) today confirmed that the death of an Arizona resident who had traveled to Germany is linked to Europe's sprout-related Escherichia coli O104:H4 outbreak.

(CIDRAP News) – Europe's Escherichia coli O104:H4 outbreak is a reminder that even countries with strong public health systems are vulnerable to epidemics and that systems for detecting and responding to diseases need to be continually strengthened, Dr Marc Sprenger, director of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) said yesterday.

(CIDRAP News) – A French probe into a cluster of Escherichia coli O104:H4 infections in Bordeaux revealed today that the strain isolated from patients is genetically related to the one that has sickened thousands of people in Germany, according to a Eurosurveillance report.