Germany says beansprouts may be behind E.coli

German-grown beansprouts could be the source of the deadly E.coli outbreak that has killed 22 people, made more than 2,200 ill and led Russia to bar EU fruit and vegetable imports, officials said.

The Lower Saxony state agriculture minister, Gert Lindemann, told a news conference investigators had traced the rare, highly toxic strain of the bacteria to a farm in the Uelzen district. Media reports said the farm was near the town of Bienenbuettel, 70 km (40 miles) south of Hamburg. 

Health facilities in Hamburg, Germany's second city and the center of the outbreak that began three weeks ago, are struggling to cope with the flood of victims, Health Minister Daniel Bahr said.

Lindemann, speaking after three weeks of mysterious deaths and widespread consumer fears linked to the rare strain of E.coli, said there appeared to be clear links between vegetables from the farm and food eaten by some victims. 

"We've got a really hot lead," Lindemann said, reporting on the investigation into a health scare that has strained ties

between two EU members and led Prime Minister Vladimir Putin to say he would not "poison" Russians by lifting an embargo on EU fruit and vegetable imports. 

Lindemann said that not only beansprouts, but also alfalfa sprouts, mung bean sprouts, radish sprouts and arugula sprouts from the farm might be connected to the outbreak. Raw sprouts are popular among Germans and often mixed in salads or added to sandwiches.

Officials have been warning consumers for weeks to avoid tomatoes, cucumbers and lettuce, and at one stage said Spanish cucumbers might be the source of the outbreak. The rare E.coli strain has killed 21 Germans and one Swede. 

Spanish farmers say lost sales have cost them 200 million euros a week, and Spanish officials said they might claim compensation. The crisis could put 70,000 people out of work in Spain, which already has the highest unemployment in the EU.

According to FoodSafety.gov, a website for food safety information from US government agencies, there have been at least 30 reported outbreaks of foodborne illness linked to different types of raw and lightly cooked sprouts -- most of them caused by Salmonella and E.coli.

In Japan, at least 11 people died in 1996 in an outbreak linked to contaminated radish sprouts.