With the death toll from a mysterious E.coli food poisoning having risen to 17, over 1500 people have fallen ill as of Thursday, June 2, including nearly 500 who have also developed a normally rare complication of kidney failure.

On Thursday, World Health Organization officials announced that this strain of lethal E. coli is one never seen before, saying that it represents a mutation of two other forms.

As hundreds of new cases are still being seen, the afflicted have been found across eight countries in Europe with at least two cases in the United States.

Among those admitted to the hospital, many are in critical condition and require intensive care. As this particular type of E. coli is much more aggressive and resistant to common antibiotics, hospitals in Germany, where the majority of cases are being seen, are working to develop a new medicine in an effort to protect the kidneys from damage.

With many people who had become sickened after eating vegetables, cucumbers from Spain were initially thought to be contaminated. Although they have since tested clean, vegetable sales are still down in Spain and other European countries.

Gennady Onishchenko, chief sanitary inspector of Russia (in Russian) (M): German sanitary authorities still haven’t identified the source of this disease or transferring factors. Most important of all, the situation hasn’t been brought under control.

All E.coli bacteria is known to originate from the intestines of animals and can spread through contaminated meat, milk, or the animals' waste material. According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the billions of animals now raised in intensive livestock farming has resulted in heavy pollution of soil and waterways.

Fruits and vegetables exposed to waters contaminated with bacteria like E. coli can thus become transmitting agents for animal-borne disease.

While deeply saddened and alarmed at the loss of life and suffering caused by this E. coli outbreak, we sincerely thank the World Health Organization, all officials and medical personnel for your efforts to safeguard human health. May we all protect ourselves and loved ones from potential harms by adopting wholesome and humane animal-free fare.

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