Hearing of a new super bug is probably not what anyone wants to hear right now. Spain is still furious with the German government that blamed the problem on Spain despite the clear lack of proof. What is odd is that the problems do appear to be limited to a particular area in Germany which suggests a potential problem in the food transportation or storage system. Investigations continue but in the meantime, raw vegetables are sitting idle in the stores because consumers are afraid of becoming ill.
The World Health Organization said Thursday that the E. coli bacteria responsible for a deadly outbreak that has left 18 dead and sickened hundreds in Europe is a new strain that has never been seen before.
Preliminary genetic sequencing suggests the strain is a mutant form of two different E. coli bacteria, with aggressive genes that could explain why the Europe-wide outbreak appears to be so massive and dangerous, the agency said.
Hilde Kruse, a food safety expert at the WHO, told The Associated Press that "this is a unique strain that has never been isolated from patients before."
