News & Perspective

(CIDRAP News) – Health officials investigating a cluster of Escherichia coli O104:H4 infections at a German school found a large number of asymptomatic infections in students and staff, a development that could pose new threats, the European Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (ECDC) said yesterday.

(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.

(CIDRAP News) – New trace-back investigations in German and French Escherichia coli outbreaks are pointing to two lots of fenugreek seeds that were imported from Egypt, according to the latest threat assessment from European officials.

(CIDRAP News) – France has reported a cluster of Escherichia coli O104:H4 infections that officials suspect may be linked to sprouts from a local source, fueling suspicions that contaminated seeds might be the source of both Germany's huge E coli outbreak and the French illnesses.