Outbreak is new form of E. coli

More than 1,500 people have been infected and 18 have died: 17 in Germany and one in Sweden.

Seven people in the UK have the infection, including three British nationals. They are all thought to have contracted it in Germany.

The World Health Organization said the variant had "never been seen in an outbreak situation before."

Scientists at the Beijing Genomics Institute in China are also reported as saying the new form was "highly infectious and toxic".

Health advice

• Wash fruit and vegetables before eating them
• Peel or cook fruit and vegetables
• Wash hands regularly to prevent person-to-person spread of E. coli strain

Source: UK Health Protection Agency

The Health Protection Agency said it was likely to be a new variant of the rare strain O104 - possibly with a newly acquired ability to infect large numbers of people.

In a statement it said: "While there is a lot more that we need to learn about this bacterium, the evidence that is already available tells us that the German authorities have been dealing with something new."

Professor Gad Frankel, from Imperial College London, the Sanger Institute and the Medical Research Council, said: "This is a new combination and a deadly combination.

"It has a gene which produces a toxin and another which helps the bacterium colonise the gut more efficiently, which effectively means even more toxin is produced, Kazinform cites BBC News.

"Research we published last year showed this same factor mediates attachment to the human gut and the surface of salad leaves."

For full version see http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-13626499