The European Center for Disease Prevention and Control reports that Since 2 May 2011, 795 cases of HUS and 2287 non-HUS STEC cases have been reported from European Union Member States, including 759 HUS cases and 2229 non-HUS STEC cases in Germany. There are reports of 4 illnesses in U.S. (3 with HUS). 22 of the HUS cases and 9 non-HUS STEC cases in EU Member states have died. See table below.
While HUS, caused by STEC infections, is usually observed in children under 5 years of age, in this outbreak the great majority of cases are adults, with around two thirds being women. The outbreak has been linked to locally grown, organic sprouts.
Laboratory results indicate that STEC serogroup O104:H4 (Stx2-positve, eae-negative, hly-negative, ESBL, aat, aggR, aap) is the causative agent. PFGE results shows indistinguishable pattern of 7 human O104:H4 outbreak strains in Germany and 2 strains of O104:H4 in Denmark.
