Via ABC News, an Associated Press report: More Sick, Dead, in European E. Coli Outbreak. Excerpt:
Two new deaths linked to a mysterious bacterial outbreak in Europe blamed on tainted vegetables were reported Tuesday, including the first outside Germany, as the number of reported cases continued to rise.
The deaths brought to 16 the total number of fatalities linked to the E. coli outbreak, with northwestern Germany the hardest-hit region.
Hospital officials in Boras, Sweden, announced the death of woman in her 50s who was admitted on May 29 after a trip to Germany. In Paderborn, Germany, the local council said an 87-year-old woman who also suffered from other ailments had died.
In Germany, the national disease control center said 373 people were sick with the most serious form of the outbreak — hemolytic uremic syndrome, or HUS, a rare complication arising from an infection most commonly associated with E. coli. That figure was up from the 329 reported Monday.
Susanne Glasmacher, a spokeswoman for the Robert Koch Institute, said another 796 people have been affected by the enterohaemorrhagic E.coli, also known as EHEC, bacteria — making a total of more than 1,150 people infected.
Hundreds of people also have been sickened in other European countries, but until Tuesday Germany had seen the only deaths.
