E. coli bacteria blamed on cucumbers

German health authorities on Wednesday announced that the investigation regarding on the E. coli outbreak are blamed again in cucumbers.

According on an American Press report, about 26 people died because of E. coli.

Cucumber was the alleged first vegetable suspected for the contamination which got a family sick in Eastern German.

Holger Paech spokesman for Saxony Anhalt state's health ministry said that it is uncertain yet whether it was cucumber that infected people, or the people, the cucumber.

"The family was sick," Paech said.

He added, "So, they could have contaminated the cucumber instead of the other way round."

Federal Institute for Risk Assessment however, sustained that the said finding does not allow any conclusions since cucumber has been in the compost between May 19 and May 30.

Robert Koch Institute, Germany's national disease control center meanwhile, stated that there were more than 300 E. coli cases which reached to a total of 2,648.

With that the German Authorities warned the public against eating cucumbers, tomatoes, lettuce, and sprouts.

The outbreak resulted in losses for farmers costing up to $611 million a week as ripe produce rots in fields and warehouses.

The European Union health chief John Dalli had an urgent meeting with German officials to discuss the E. coli crisis.

Investigators two weeks ago blamed cucumbers from Spain for the deadly outbreak and then later ruled them out as the source. After that, the study shifted to sprouts from northern Germany but none tested turned out to be contaminated with the bacteria strain blamed for the outbreak. — ARA