MUD may be the least of your worries at festivals across Europe this summer: food poisoning may lie in wait.
The outbreak of a rare strain of E. coli in Germany in May seems to have subsided, with , after 3918 people fell ill and 42 died. The outbreak was traced to used to grow sprouts, a frequent source of food-borne bacteria. The European Union has banned the seeds.
The trouble is that the bacterium has been knocking around Germany for a decade, and may still lurk in people who are symptom-free. Earlier this month German health authorities tested stool samples from a school in Paderborn, where there were four known infections. They found 18 of the 30 children tested carried the strain, but had no symptoms. Worse, three kitchen workers at the school and three at a catering company supplying it were also carriers. The .
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联贵补迟补濒 E. coli has been in Germany for a decade and may still lurk in people who are symptom-free聰
This 鈥渟ubstantial proportion of subclinical infections is the main reason for concern at this stage鈥�, says the in Stockholm, Sweden. 鈥淐onsidering the large number of summer festivals in the EU, with sometimes inadequate food hygiene standards鈥�, people should remember 鈥渢he need for proper hand washing鈥�.
