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An epidemic of intestinal infections is rampant in Germany
Last reviewed: 30.06.2025
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There are already 460 known cases of infection. On Wednesday, doctors at a clinic in Schleswig-Holstein confirmed that one patient died from this infection. Doctors also suspect that the same Escherichia (E.) coli bacteria may have caused the deaths of two other patients.
In fact, the pathogen has long been known. In 1985, the first epidemic of "hemolytic uremic syndrome", or as it is otherwise called, "Gasser's disease", was registered in Germany. Later, there were small local outbreaks. However, what is happening now, according to an employee of the Robert Koch Institute, is observed for the first time.
Seriously ill patients are in intensive care units. Many are in a coma, some have had operations to remove part of their colon. The disease is accompanied by serious symptoms - bloody stools, anemia, and a decrease in the content of red blood cells.
According to a source from the Robert Koch Institute who spoke to RG, such an aggressive type of this bacterium has never been encountered before. It spreads unusually quickly. The age and gender of those infected are very alarming. Previously, the patients were mostly children who were infected in farmyards from small cattle. Now, these are mostly adult women. The incubation period of the infection is from five to seven days.
Most cases have been registered in northern Germany. There are already more than 100 cases in the federal state of Hamburg, as well as the same number in the states of Lower Saxony and Bremen. 26 cases have been registered in Frankfurt. All of the infected people were infected in the canteens of one of the insurance companies. Both canteens have already been closed. According to a representative of the Robert Koch Institute, some of the products most likely came from the north of the country.
The institute's staff is currently looking for the source of the disease. The pathogen is usually found in the excrement of animals - cows, goats, horses. Where it got into the food chain is a mystery. According to the "RG" interlocutor, such bacteria usually enter the human body through raw, unprocessed products.
The only thing that the institute's specialists can definitely rule out is raw meat and milk. The deceased woman ate almost no meat. The other patients mainly ate vegetables and grain products.
Pathogens can be transmitted through normal contact with those who do not maintain personal hygiene and do not wash their hands after using the toilet. Experts also suspect that unwashed cutting boards or kitchen knives after cutting raw meat can be carriers of the pathogen. For now, the only measure against infection can be thorough washing of hands and kitchen utensils.
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