Tauge Pembawa Utama E-Coli Di Jerman

Pejabat Jerman mengatakan, merebaknya bakteri E. Coli yang telah mengakibatkan kematian 22 orang di Jerman dan Sweden kemungkinan berasal dari tauge yang dihasilkan pengusaha tempatan.

Menteri Pertanian negara bahagian Lower Saxony, Gert Lindeman menyatakan semalam, hasil ujian atas tauge tempatan itu akan diketahui pada Isnin. Ia menganjurkan kepada penduduk di Jerman utara agar tidak memakan tauge.

Pejabat kesihatan Jerman semalam melaporkan kematian tiga orang lagi, sehingga jumlah korban menjadi 22 orang. Kecuali seorang perempuan yang meninggal di Sweden setelah berkunjung ke Jerman, semua korban terdapat di Jerman.

Kata pejabat kesihatan, kira-kira 2,000 orang, kebanyakan di Jerman telah terkena serangan bakteria E. Coli. Sepuluh negara Eropan lain dan Amerika melaporkan 90 orang yang terkena bakteria itu, setelah berkunjung ke Jerman.

Merebaknya bakteria E. Coli ini adalah yang paling banyak mengorban manusia dalam sejarah moden, dan merupakan kedua atau ketiga terbesar dalam jumlah orang yang sakit akibat terjangkit bakteria itu. Penderita serangan E. Coli biasanya sakit perut, cirit birit, demam dan muntah-muntah. -AP, Reuters

Bean sprouts to blame for E.coli outbreak

Kod genetik bakteria O104 yang didekodkan yang pada skrin komputer di makmal klinik universiti Eppendorf di Hamburg. Foto: AFP/GETTY
German-grown bean sprouts are the most likely cause of the deadly E.coli outbreak that has killed 22 people and made more than 2,000 ill across Europe, officials said last night.

The admission is hugely embarrassing for Germany, which had previously blamed Spanish cucumbers for the bug.

Beansprouts are a common ingredient in salads and stir frys, but have previously been blamed for major health scares. They were held responsible for a serious outbreak of Salmonella in Britain last year and 17 E.coli-related deaths in Japan in 1996.

On Sunday evening, Gert Lindemann, agriculture minister in the northern state of Lower-Saxony, said a company that grew bean sprouts had been shut down and further test results were expected on Monday.

"There was a very clear trail (to this company) as the source of the infection," Mr Lindemann said in a news conference. He urged consumers in northern Germany to refrain from eating all types of sprouts.

"It is the most convincing...source for the E.coli illnesses," he said. -The Telegraph