The recent outbreak of E.coli infections – mostly in Europe and all apparently centered on northern Germany – is a little worrying in view of my travel plans (see previous post). Today's Telegraph reports:
The bug has now been identified in people in the Czech Republic, France and the United States, adding to those in Germany, Austria, Denmark, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK... [M]ore than 1,600 people have been affected worldwide.
All cases except two have been found in people from northern Germany or who have recently visited the area...
The outbreak is on course to be the world’s “biggest ever”, according to one of the country’s leading microbiologists. The [Health Protection] Agency added that it was shocked by its “unprecedented” scale and severity. Hundreds have been left seriously ill and at least 18 have died.
The UK Foreign Office travel page for Germany reports that "German authorities are advising people in Germany against eating raw tomatoes, cucumbers and lettuce, especially in the north of the country." Which is a pity, as I normally eat quite a lot of salad. And as a non meat eater, other choices are in fairly short supply in Germany.
The Guardian has an electron microscope photo of the ugly bacterium, which is helpful, and reports that 200 more cases have emerged in Germany in the first two days of this month. Sadly there have been 17 deaths there. But I guess about 82,000,000 Germans have not died, so it would be foolish to panic at this stage.
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