Scientists scramble to solve E. coli outbreak

Hundreds of German scientists are working around the clock to try to pinpoint the source of a strain of E. coli which has already killed 10 people.The outbreak is thought to be linked to contaminated cucumbers, but there are also concerns about other vegetables.Consumers in Germany and Spain are being warned to cook all vegetables, and several governments are ordering produ

cts to be taken off the shelves while the investigation continues.The E. coli outbreak has left 10 people dead and hundreds sick, with the majority of the victims in northern Germany.Professor Rolf Stahl, who works at the main hospital in the northern city of Hamburg, says the death toll is likely to rise."We have been caught unaware by an epidemic on a scale which none of us has previously experienced," he said.

"We now have around 20 patients who are very, very ill. Most of them are in intensive care and everyone here is working around the clock to care for them."

Infectious diseases experts think the outbreak may be linked to cucumbers from Spain.The vegetables could have become contaminated with human or animal fecal matter either at their source, during transportation or in Germany.Scientists suspect tomatoes and lettuce may also be affected, and in northern Germany consumers are being advised to avoid those vegetables.The warnings have angered some German farmers, who say they will suffer unnecessarily.Spanish growers are not happy either; Fulgencio Torres, president of the producers' organisation Hortyfruta, says German authorities should not have named Spain as the possible source before investigations were complete.