E. coli outbreakSprouts declared source of deadly E.coli outbreak, again

After declaring last week that sprouts were not the culprit of the deadly E. coli outbreak, German officials are now saying that sprouts were indeed the source after all.

Last Friday, three German health agencies made a combined statement confirming that sprouts originating from an organic farm in northern Germany were the cause of an outbreak that has killed at least thirty people and sickened roughly 3,000 people across thirteen countries.

The announcement comes without conclusive evidence that sprouts were the source of the bacterial outbreak and health investigators are relying on circumstantial evidence.

A joint statement issued by the Robert Koch Institute, the Institute of Risk Management, and the Ministry of Consumer Protection stated, “Even when there hasn’t been any proof that can confirm the presence of the outbreak source strain, the evidence chain has become so incriminating that the federal institutions and the states must assume that the E. coli outbreak started here.”

Tests from the farm located in Lower Saxony have come back negative for the rare strain of E. coli that is sickening patients. Instead, the latest conclusion is based on a study of restaurant menus which found that customers who became ill were 8.6 times more likely to have eaten sprouts.

Further investigation also found that sprouts from suspected farms had been found in twenty-six out of fifty-five restaurants where customers fell ill.

The government’s latest announcement will likely do little to ease the uncertainty over fresh produce as they appear to contradict previous statements.

A recent survey of patients found that only six out of twenty-four had eaten sprouts and last week health authorities maintained that their investigations had shown that only 30 percent of patients had eaten sprouts and most clues pointed to lettuce, tomatoes, and cucumbers as the source.

Authorities maintain that sprouts are the cause of the outbreak and experts have said that it is unlikely that they will be able to determine with 100 percent certainty the source.

Reinhard Burger, the president of the Robert Koch Institute, Germany’s central disease and prevention agency, said that while the specific strain of E.coli has not been found in any of the tested sprout samples, the links between restaurants where the sprouts were shipped and where outbreaks occurred was too strong to ignore.

As further evidence, Burger noted that three of the sprout farms ten employees had fallen ill with suspected E.coli infections.

Health officials suspect that the sprouts could have been contaminated with E.coli through contact with humans, the water supply, or seeds. Scientists are continuing to conduct laboratory tests on the sprouts and investigators are still examining other potential sources.

Reports of new infections have slowed, but it is uncertain whether that is due to a decrease in the consumption of fresh produce or if the source of the outbreak has been removed from the food chain.

The government has declared lettuce, tomatoes, and cucumbers as safe to eat, but advised consumers to avoid sprouts.

The suspected sprout farm remains closed and all of its products have been recalled.