Deadly E. coli outbreak in Germany claims first child victim

HANNOVER, GERMANY (BNO NEWS) — German authorities on Tuesday confirmed that a two-year-old boy has died due to the deadly E. coli outbreak that has now killed a total of 37 people, the DPA news agency reported.

The young boy who was a resident of Celle town in Lower Saxony is the first child victim of the virulent strain of E. coli which began spreading in May. Before the latest death, the youngest E. coli victim was a 20-year-old man.

Celle public health officer Carsten Bauer said that the two-year-old died due to kidney failure and anemia, both symptoms of the virulent strain of E. coli. All but one of the 37 fatalities have occurred in Germany; the other one took place in Sweden.

Germany’s national disease body, the Robert Koch Institute, said 3,228 people have so far been infected by the outbreak. However, the agency said the number of new infections has quickly declined in recent days.

Last Friday, German health officials said contaminated sprouts were likely to have caused the E. coli outbreak and not cucumbers as it was initially feared. The results were announced after an epidemiological investigation conducted by the Robert Koch Institute.

As a result of the announcement, Germany lifted its warning to consumers regarding the safety of cucumbers, fresh lettuce, and tomatoes. The outbreak has also caused millions of Euros in losses within the region’s vegetable growers.

Previously, the European Union announced that it would pay at least 150 million Euros ($218 million) in compensation to farmers affected by the E. coli outbreak, which is about 30 percent of the actual damages.

Spanish Agriculture Minister Rosa Aguilar said the decrease in demand for Spanish vegetables was causing farmers 200 million Euros ($291.57 million) in damages every week, and Spanish cucumber farmers are demanding a compensation of 100 percent in lost revenues.

The EU later raised the amount to 210 million Euros ($304 million) in compensation, about 50 percent of the damages. Following the discovery of the source, EU Health Commissioner John Dalli said the outbreak was under control.