Germany at last pinned down evidence Friday that sprouts grown from beans or peas have spread E coli in an outbreak that has killed 31 people, and officials gave an all-clear for cucumbers, tomatoes and lettuce, dpa reported. A human carrier may have been the source, with scientists saying the O104:H4 strain of the bacteria had never been observed on food before the outbreak, but only in the human gut. Farmers groups voiced relief that other vegetables had been declared safe, after government warnings brought the produce market to the brink of collapse. In the city of Hamburg, protesting farmers had been offering tons of lettuce and cucumbers for free to anyone who wanted them when the announcement from Berlin flashed up on television. Suddenly, city-centre pedestrians turned from reluctant to eager takers. "The news spread like wildfire and people began grabbing free veggies from us by the bagful," said farmer leader Jens Elvers. "Enjoy lettuce, cucumber and tomatoes. They are healthy for you," said Andreas Hensel, president of the Federal Risk Assessment Institute BfR, which has co-led the hunt for the E coli strain. The O104:H4 strain of bacteria was found by scientists on sprouts for the first time in the western city of Bonn. The germs were still in a discarded, half-used retail package of sprouts that had sickened two members of a family, authorities said Friday. The package, in a trashcan, came from the market garden accused of spreading the pathogen. Only four days earlier disappointed investigators drew a blank with tests for the E coli in water or soil samples from the garden. Corroborating proof came by studying five groups of people who took sight-seeing coach tours last month and had one thing in common - they had all eaten in one German restaurant. The restaurant's extraordinarily detailed kitchen and waiter records and interviews with both cooks and the 112 tourists had revealed every ingredient of their meals and who ate what. "Amazingly enough, there were even photos available of the coach groups, where you could see the dishes on the table in front of the people who were later to become patients," said Reinhard Burger, head of the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) germ laboratories in Berlin. Out of the five coach groups, 19 people fell sick with bloody diarrhoea. All had chosen dishes from the menu containing sprouts. Those who chose dishes garnished with sprouts had a ninefold higher chance of getting sick with enterohaemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC), the dangerous germ, compared to the other tourists. The market garden which grew the sprouts in steam vats, the Bienenbuettel Gaertnerhof, was closed by authorities last Thursday. EU Health Commissioner John Dalli said through a spokesman that the market garden had not exported any produce outside Germany. Sprouts are popular with vegetarians as a protein and are also used to garnish salads. "The outbreak has not finished yet," Burger warned, while adding that the rate of infections had begun to decline. It was probable that all the infected sprouts had now been used up, he said. The officials said a warning against eating raw sprouts would remain in place while a recall of Gaertnerhof's products continued. "Checks on other sprout farms are being conducted right now," added Hensel. The warning against eating cucumbers, lettuce and raw tomatoes was issued May 25 and caused a massive slump in Europe's produce trade. Spain, a major vegetable exporter to Germany, was infuriated by the loss of sales. Growers all over Germany had to plough ripe crops under. Russia slapped an import ban on all European Union vegetables but agreed to lift it on Friday. The current strain of E coli which causes kidney and nerve damage began to spread in Germany at the start of May, a reconstruction shows. The bacteria can be found in faecal samples of patients, but has not been observed yet on any fresh food or in farm animals. Hensel said the E coli strain, which recombines features of several of the worst E coli types including production of shiga toxin, was not itself new, but the fact that it had contaminated food was new. "This pathogen has only been observed in humans," said Helge Karch, a University Hospital of Muenster professor who has been part of the investigation. "It's now important to know how long infected people carry this germ and can spread it through poor hygiene." Most humans and farm animals have a wide variety of E coli strains living permanently in their digestive tracts. All but one of the 31 fatalities from the outbreak have been in Germany.
