A German official said today that locally grown beansprouts may be the "most convincing" cause of the deadly E.coli outbreak that has killed 22 people and made more than 2,000 ill across Europe.
Gert Lindemann, agriculture minister in the northern state of Lower-Saxony near Hamburg, told a news conference that a company in the Uelzen region had been shut down and further test results were expected tomorrow.
"There was a very clear trail (to this company) as the source of the infection," Mr Lindemann said in a news conference broadcast on N-TV television. 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.
Earlier, a state government official told Reuters that investigators had identified beansprouts as the possible source of the bacteria. He said that officials were able to trace rather precisely the supply routes of the sprouts.
Authorities have been racing to track down the source of the pathogen, which has infected people in 12 countries - all of whom had been travelling in northern Germany. Many of those infected have developed haemolytic uraemic syndrome (HUS), a potentially deadly complication attacking the kidneys.
The rare strain of E.coli has the ability to stick to intestinal walls where it pumps out toxins, sometimes causing severe bloody diarrhoea and kidney problems. Some patients have needed intensive care, including dialysis.
In a statement, the ministry said that the sprouts from the company in question were delivered to restaurants and food operations in the states of Hamburg, Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Hesse and Lower Saxony.
Meanwhile, the proprietor of a German meat-and-potatoes restaurant where the food bug may have struck has said he is devastated to hear many of his guests were infected by the rare virulent bacteria.
"It was like a blow to the head when I heard the news," Joachim Berger said in an interview in the kitchen of his restaurant in Luebeck, 60km northeast of the outbreak's epicentre in the northern port city of Hamburg.
"We had everyone here tested and everything was disinfected. I paid for the tests myself because safety is important for our guests and employees," he said.
The Luebecker Nachrichten newspaper reported scientists had identified the local restaurant as a possible spot where the bug was passed on after one person died and 17 others fell sick, including a group of tax officials as well as Danish tourists and a child from southern Germany on a separate family outing.
Reuters