The current EHEC O104:H4, causing a severe outbreak in Germany (May 2011), is microbiologically characterized as follows (1) (27.5.2011; updated 30.5.2011):
Shigatoxin 1: – (negative), Shigatoxin 2 (vtx2a): + (positive), Intimin (eae): – (negative), Enterohemolysin: – (negative)
EaggEC Virulence plasmid: – aatA-PCR: + (positive), – aggR-PCR: + (positive), – aap-PCR: + (positive)
MLST Sequence Type:
A well-done and comprehensive article on Der Spiegel online by Veronika Hackenbroch, Samiha Shafy and Frank Thadeusz confirmed a few things but also raised more questions.
By the numbers: This E. coli O104:H4 outbreak is the third largest that I have found (behind Japan’ E. coli O157:H7 outbreak in 1996 and Canada’s E. coli
According to UAE News Reports, the Dubai Court of Appeal stiffened the sentence against the doctor, restaurant cook and supervisor and the restaurant, all of whom were convicted guilty for causing the death of D’Souza’s two children. Five-year-old Nathan D’Souza and his seven-year-old sister, Chelsea, died of food poisoning in 2009. The Appeal Court
Of those that have died, most are women 80 years of age and older. They survived the bombing of World War II and died from eating cucumbers – go figure.
Veronika Oleksyn of the Associated Press reports from Germany that the E. coli O104 outbreak has taken its 11th victim. This time a 91-year-old woman (nine of ten deaths are women) from Germany. The number of people contaminated or suspected of having been poisoned has reached 1,200, according to other media reports. The Robert Koch
Thank goodness for Outbreak Database (www.outbreakdatabase.com) to see the history of bad cucumbers:
European Outbreak Organic Spanish Cucumbers 2011
Outbreak Associated with Microsporidia, Sweden October 2009
Michigan Banquet Facility Green Salad and Cucumber 2008
With 1,000 sickened, 300 with hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), and 10 dead throughout Europe caused by E. coli O104:H4 tainted cucumbers, today many families are spending time in hospital waiting rooms or in funeral homes. Me, I was out planting seeds.
Think about how lucky we are on the day before Memorial Day. Think
CDC is collaborating with public health and agriculture officials in many states and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Poultry Improvement Plan (NPIP) to investigate a multistate outbreak of human Salmonella serotype Altona infections. As of May 25, 2011, a total of 25 individuals infected with the outbreak strain of Salmonella Altona have been
A month ago 90 people fell ill with E. coli O111 after eating raw beef at eateries near Tokyo and on Honshu Island. 23 suffered hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) and four died.
We have seen that strain in the United States before. 341 people became ill with E. coli O111:NM during an outbreak traced to
With 1,000 sickened, 300 with Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome and nine deaths, the ongoing E. coli outbreak in Germany (and several other European Countries) will be quickly joining the list of the most severe outbreaks in history. Here is the list since I began litigating E. coli cases in 1993 as of today
