German two-year-old dies from E. coli

BERLIN – A two-year-old boy yesterday became the first child to die in an outbreak of a virulent strain of E coli in Germany that authorities say is abating, taking the death toll to at least 37.

The child died in hospital in Hanover overnight after becoming infected with enterohaemorrhagic E coli (EHEC), authorities in the northern state of Lower Saxony said.He had been in intensive care for several days. The rest of his family also fell ill but were recovering, authorities said.Previously the youngest victim from the weeks-long outbreak, which authorities have blamed on vegetable sprouts from an organic farm in northern Germany, was a 20-year-old woman.All but one of the fatalities have been in Germany, with the other being a woman in Sweden who had recently returned from Germany.Some 3 255 people have also fallen sick in 14 European countries plus the United States and Canada, according to the World Health Organisation. – Nampa-AFP