VTEC in Germany: Update 15/6/11
As of 15/6/2011, ECDC is reporting that in the EU/EEA, 821 HUS cases, including 24 deaths, and 2530 non-HUS VTEC cases, including 13 deaths, have been reported. Today, Germany reports two new HUS cases and 17 new non-HUS STEC cases. It also reports a new HUS death. In Luxembourg, one STEC case has recently developed HUS. This brings to 3351 the combined numbers of STEC/HUS cases. A total of 37 people have now died as a result of this outbreak. The latest reports on this outbreak from ECDC can be found here.
German Authorities are advising their citizens against consuming raw beansprouts until further notice. In addition, one of the outbreak cases has possibly contracted their illness from home grown bean sprouts, raising the possibility that beansprout seeds might have a role in this outbreak. As a result of this, German Authorities are also advising against the consumption of home grown beansprouts. Information from the German Authorities in English is available here.