'Killer Cucumber' Bug From Spain Hits Britain

Three people in Britain have been diagnosed with a lethal strain of E.Coli that has already killed five people in Germany.
Almost 300 people in northern Germany are in hospital and around 500 more are being tested for the infection.

Organic cucumbers from Spain are thought to be the source of the bacteria, but travellers to Germany are also being advised to avoid eating raw tomatoes and lettuce.

The Robert Koch Institute, Germany's national disease centre, said 60 cases had been reported in the last 24 hours alone, and infections have also been confirmed in Sweden, Denmark and the Netherlands.

Britain's Health Protection Authority has confirmed that the two UK victims are Germans who travelled from the country and fell ill after entering Britain.

A third UK victim has been struck down with similar symptoms but is still undergoing tests.

A spokeswoman for the HPA said the outbreak in Germany was "very, very serious" and that although the bug was infectious, there had been no reports of secondary infection yet in the UK.

Dr Dilys Morgan, head of the gastrointestinal, emerging and zoonotic infections department at the HPA, said: "The HPA is actively monitoring the situation very carefully and liaising with the authorities in Germany, the European Centre for Disease Control (ECDC) and the World Health Organisation (WHO) as to the cause of the outbreak. (from SKY)