Deadliest E. coli outbreak on records hit Europe

Europe has been hit by  the deadliest E. Coli outbreak on record,  a rare strain that is causing kidney failure in unprecedented numbers, U.S. health officials said.

At least 16 people have died and 1,624 cases have been reported, according to the World Health Organization in Geneva. The number of reported cases is based on hospital records, and the actual number of infections may be 10 or more times higher, said Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota.

The strain circulating in Germany and nine other European countries produces a toxin not usually seen in E. coli that can damage the kidneys and other organs. Germany alone has reported 520 cases of the kidney ailment and officials advised against eating raw tomatoes, cucumbers and leafy salads.

"We usually consider that a rare complication," said Robert Tauxe, deputy director of food-borne illnesses at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, in a telephone interview. "This is a new public health problem."

Germany's Robert Koch Institute today confirmed 11 deaths related to the E. coli outbreak, as well as 520 cases of the potentially fatal complication, known as hemolytic uremic syndrome or HUS. Another 30 cases of HUS have been reported in Sweden, Spain, Denmark, the U.K. and the Netherlands, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control said today.