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deadly E.coli outbreak that has killed 22 people, made more than 2,200 ill and led Russia to bar EU fruit and vegetable imports buy louboutins very prive, officials said on Sunday.

The Lower Saxony state agriculture minister, Gert Lindemann, told a news conference investigators had traced the rare, highly toxic strain of the bacteria to a farm in the Uelzen district. Media reports said the farm was near the town of Bienenbuettel, 70 km (40 miles) south of Hamburg.

Health facilities in Hamburg, Germany's second city and the center of the outbreak that began three weeks ago, are struggling to cope with the flood of victims, Health Minister Daniel Bahr said.

Lindemann, speaking after three weeks of mysterious deaths and widespread consumer fears linked to the rare strain of E.coli, said there appeared to be clear links between vegetables from the farm and food eaten by some victims.

"We've got a really hot lead," Lindemann said, reporting on the investigation into a health scare that has strained ties

between two EU members and led Prime Minister Vladimir Putin to say he would not "poison" Russians by lifting an embargo on EU fruit and vegetable imports.

Lindemann said that not only beansprouts, but also alfalfa sprouts, mung bean sprouts, radish sprouts and arugula sprouts from the farm might be connected to the outbreak. Raw sprouts are popular among Germans and often mixed in salads or added to sandwiches.

Officials have been warning consumers for weeks to avoid tomatoes, cucumbers and lettuce, and at one stage said Spanish cucumbers might be the source of the outbreak. The rare E.coli strain has killed 21 Germans and one Swede.

Spanish farmers say lost sales have cost them 200 million euros a week, and Spanish officials said they might claim compensation. The crisis could put 70,000 people out of work in Spain buy louboutins very prive, which already has the highest unemployment in the EU.

According to FoodSafety.gov, a website for food safety information from U.S. government agencies buy louboutins very prive, there have been at least 30 reported outbreaks of foodborne illness linked to different types of raw and lightly cooked sprouts -- most of them caused by Salmonella and E.coli.

In Japan buy louboutins very prive, at least 11 people died in 1996 in an outbreak linked to contaminated radish sprouts.

GERMAN FARM SHUT DOWN

Lindemann said the Uelzen farm had been shut down, its produce recalled and further test results were expected on Monday. He urged consumers in northern Germany to refrain from eating all types of beansprouts.

Officials said, however, they were not sure if the farm was the only source. Lindemann said it was possible the contaminated produce had found its way into a variety of foods.

"There was a very clear trail (to the farm) as the source of the infection," Lindemann said. "It is the most convincing ... source for the E.coli illnesses. This is for us the most plausible cause of the illness."

Authorities have been racing to track the source of the disease, which has infected people in 12 countries -- all of

Source: http://www.badminton-network.net/blog/view/id_37356

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