53 people ate fresh raw bean sprouts and died! A strain of Escherichia coli O104:H4 bacteria caused a serious outbreak of food-borne illness focused in northern Germany in May through June 2011.
Fresh vegetables were the source of infection. The agriculture minister of Lower Saxony identified an organic farm in Bienenbüttel, Lower Saxony, Germany, which produces a variety of sprouted foods, as the likely source of the E. coli outbreak.
German Federal Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection, announced that seeds of organic fenugreek imported from Egypt were likely the source of the outbreak.
In all, 3,950 people were affected and 53 died, 51 of whom were in Germany. 800 people suffered hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), which can lead to kidney failure. A handful of cases were reported in several other countries including Switzerland, Poland, the Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark, the UK, Canada and the USA.
Essentially all affected people had been in Germany or France shortly before becoming ill.
