E. coli outbreak: Germany appeals for blood donors

E. coli outbreak: Germanyappeals for blood donors German clinics have appealed for blooddonations as the number of peopleinfected with a deadly strain of E. colihas reached 1,836 globally.Nearly 200 new cases have been reported intwo days in Germany, which has seen themost infections. The bug has killed 17people in Germany and one in Sweden.German scientists say the new E. colistrain's genes have been decoded. It is anew hybrid form toxic to humans.Germans are still being advised not to eatraw vegetables.'Poison'Most cases are in northern Germany,including Hamburg. In severe cases, doctorshave to perform blood transfusions.Lutz Schmidt, medical chief of the Hamburgblood donation service, said: "We needblood, plasma too. The stocks need to bereplenished."He told the newspaper Die Welt that inHamburg ,many donors had responded tothe Eppendorf University Clinic's appeal forblood.E. coli is a bacterium that usually inhabitsthe guts of cattle and sheep and is mostlyharmless.Some strains, such as EnterohaemorrhagicE. coli (EHEC), can cause diarrhoea, severestomach cramps and fever, though mostsufferers recover within days.However, a small number of patientsdevelop the potentially deadly haemolyticuraemic syndrome (HUS), which attacks thekidneys and nervous system.The bacterium sticks to the intestine walls,pumping out toxins.In all, 1,213 EHEC cases and 520 HUS caseshave now been reported in Germany, theWorld Health Organization (WHO) says.It adds that 553 cases of HUS and 1,283cases of EHEC have been detected globally.In Britain, health officials have announcedfour more EHEC cases, bringing the totalnumber to 11. All patients have recentlytravelled to Germany.Russia - the EU's largest export market forvegetables - has rejected pleas fromBrussels to drop its ban on the import offresh vegetables.Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said on Fridaythe ban may go against "the spirit of theWTO... but cucumbers that people die aftereating really stink"."We cannot poison our people for the sakeof some spirit," he added.Anger in SpainThe new E. coli strain is believed to havespread via contaminated raw cucumbers ortomatoes.European health authorities are urgentlytrying to pinpoint the source of thisepidemic.Cases of HUS have also been reported inDenmark, the Netherlands and Spain. Sevenpeople in the UK have the infection, thoughall are thought to have contracted it inGermany.Two people in the US, who travelled recentlyto Germany, have tested positive for HUS,said the US Centers for Disease Control andPrevention (CDC).Spain says it will seek damages fromGermany over initial claims that its producewas the source of the outbreak.Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis RodriguezZapatero said he would demand reparationsfor the economic losses suffered.Germany had blamed Spanish cucumbersbut has since accepted it was not the case.Spanish fruit and vegetable exportersestimate they are losing 200m euros($290m; £177m) a week in sales.Sales of Spanish produce to supermarketsacross Europe - not just of cucumbers, butof everything - have ground to a halt, saysthe BBC's Sarah Rainsford in Almeria,Spain's so-called fruitbasket.Tens of thousands of kilos of fresh fruit andvegetables grown in Spain are beingdestroyed, she adds.E. coli outbreak: Germanyappeals for blood donors