European authorities still are scrambling to contain an E. coli threat that first emerged in northern Germany in late May.
In the latest move, Russia today banned certain Egyptian seeds, including fenugreek, after the European Food Safety Authority linked them to the deadly E. coli outbreaks in Germany and France, according to the Mail & Guardian Online.
As The New York Times reports, authorities now believe that the shipment of the contaminated Egyptian fenugreek seeds was distributed more widely than originally thought — to at least 12 countries on the continent — prompting officials to widen their search for the tainted product.
Investigators are now focusing on a single shipment of more than 16 tons of the Egyptian seeds, whose sprouts often are used in salads, that was received by a German importer in December, 2009.
The German outbreak from the rare strain of E. coli bacteria, the Times said, has caused 49 deaths and more than 4,100 illnesses. A second outbreak, last month in the Bordeaux area of France, sickened 16 people, authorities say.
However, a new report from the European Food Safety Authority found that only a small fraction of the suspect shipment went to the German sprout grower associated with the devastating outbreak in that country or to the British company linked to the illnesses in France. Investigators are racing to track down where the rest of the contaminated seeds wound up.
STUART SILVERSTEIN
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