How do you get e coli from cucumbers? And then die from it.

[Capt Pat]

Just wondering please explain.

[Denn Forever]

The Kidneys apparently.

29 May 2011 Last updated at 15:31 GMT Share this pageEmail Print Share this page

2,434ShareFacebookTwitter.E.coli-infected cucumber scare spreads beyond Germany
The outbreak has prompted farmers to destroy other vegetables too Authorities in the Czech Republic and Austria have taken some Spanish-grown cucumbers off store shelves over fears they are contaminated with E.coli.

The move came after illness in Germany caused by infected cucumbers led to at least 10 deaths.

The cucumbers, believed to have been imported from Spain and contaminated with E.coli, left people ill with hemolytic-uremic syndrome (HUS).

Hundreds of people are said to have fallen sick.

Officials in the Czech Republic said affected cucumbers may also have been exported to Hungary and Luxembourg.

Austria's Agency for Health and Food Safety said some tomatoes and aubergines had also been included in the ban.

Meanwhile a European Union spokesman said two greenhouses in Spain identified as sources had ceased their activities.

They were now being investigated to see whether the contamination occurred there or elsewhere.

'Predominance of women'

The aggressive form of E.coli is known to cause kidney failure and affect the central nervous system.

Most of the cases have been in the area around Hamburg.

The Sweden-based European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control said this outbreak was "one of the largest described of HUS worldwide and the largest ever reported in Germany".

It said: "While HUS cases are usually observed in children under five years of age, in this outbreak 87% are adults, with a clear predominance of women (68%)."

HUS cases have also been reported in Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands and the UK, and linked to German travel.

A scientist from Munster university, Helge Karch, warned that the spread of infection was not over, and secondary infections could be passed from person to person.

Czech authorities said the European Union's rapid warning system had told them of an importation of the cucumbers into the Czech Republic

[JUst retired]

If they would stop spreading human and animal waste on crops,would this help?

[Denn Forever]

From Wikipedia.  Have a look if you've time.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Escherichia_coli

Briefly, Escherichia coli ( /ˌɛʃɪˈrɪkiə ˈkoʊlaɪ/; commonly abbreviated E. coli; named after Theodor Escherich) is a Gram-negative rod-shaped bacterium that is commonly found in the lower intestine of warm-blooded organisms (endotherms). Most E. coli strains are harmless, but some, such as serotype O157:H7, can cause serious food poisoning in humans, and are occasionally responsible for product recalls.[1][2] The harmless strains are part of the normal flora of the gut, and can benefit their hosts by producing vitamin K2,[3] and by preventing the establishment of pathogenic bacteria within the intestine.[4][5]

E. coli are not always confined to the intestine, and their ability to survive for brief periods outside the body makes them an ideal indicator organism to test environmental samples for fecal contamination.[6][7]