France has reported a cluster of eight patients with bloody diarrhoea who were infected with E.coli after having participated in an event in the commune of Bègles around Bordeaux on 8 June. Of these, seven have developed HUS, a severe complication of E. coli infection. In three of the patients, infection with E. coli O104:H4 has been confirmed.
The French authorities are investigating this new cluster of STEC – the suspected vehicle of infection for the cases and whether there is any link between that cluster and the large outbreak reported from Germany.
Since 25 June in the EU/EEA, 880 HUS cases, including 31 deaths, and 3,039 non-HUS cases, including 16 deaths have so far been reported. ECDC is continuously monitoring the enterohaemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC) and Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) outbreak in Germany and other EU Member States.
For further information, please see the epidemiological updates which include the most recent numbers on haemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) and non-HUS cases reported by EU Member States.
Source: ECDC
