BERLIN – Germany reported two more deaths and 300 more E coli cases on Wednesday, but its health minister insisted that new infections were dropping, giving some hope that the world’s deadliest E coli outbreak was abating, according to ‘The Guardian.’
Health minister Daniel Bahr spoke before an emergency meeting in Berlin with health officials from the EU, which is concerned about Germany’s handling of the crisis. “I cannot yet give an all-clear, but after an analysis of the numbers there’s reason for hope,” Bahr told ARD television. “The numbers are continuously falling – which nonetheless means that there can still be new cases and that one unfortunately has to expect new deaths too – but overall new infections are clearly going down.” Bahr said the death toll has risen to 26 – 25 in Germany plus one in Sweden. Germany’s national disease control centre, the Robert Koch Institute, said the number of reported cases in Germany rose by more than 300 to 2,648. Nearly 700 of those affected are hospitalised with a serious complication that can cause kidney failure. Another 100 E coli cases are in other European countries and the US.
