Report: 85 percent of Germans eating cucumbers again
BERLIN -- Eighty-five percent of Germans are eating raw cucumbers, tomatoes and lettuce again, according to a survey published by the Bild am Sonntag newspaper, as fears of catching E. coli from the vegetables begin to recede.
Germany initially blamed Spanish cucumbers for the recent E. coli outbreak, but sprouts were later identified as having spread the EHEC bacteria. So far, 39 people have died from E. coli - 38 of them in Germany.
The Emnid Institute, which conducts social research, interviewed 500 people aged 14 and older for the survey.
Three weeks ago, in a similar survey, 58 percent of Germans had said they were avoiding raw cucumbers, tomatoes and salad.
Meanwhile, a spokeswoman from the state of Hesse's Social Affairs Ministry said no new infections had been reported after the bacteria was also found Friday in a creek in the town of Erlenbach, just outside the city of Frankfurt.
It was thought the bacteria had possibly found its way into the creek from a nearby sewage works. Two nearby farms that were using water from the creek to water potatoes have now been banned from doing so.
Officials also reported Friday the first known human transfer of the infection - a kitchen employee had unwittingly been spreading the germ on food, having caught it herself from sprouts.
She later developed the most severe form of EHEC infection, haemolytic-uraemic syndrome, in which the kidneys and nervous system fail and the patient often suffers epileptic fits.
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