E.Coli outbreak peaks

Germany’s Health Minister Daniel Bahr said on Wednesday that the rate of new cases of Germans contracting a deadly strain of E.coli bacteria are declining significantly. Officials also added there was no conclusive proof of suspicions that organic bean sprouts were to blame for an outbreak that has killed 23 people.

Farmers across Europe have seen sales plummet after salad vegetables were first blamed.

Lydia O’Kane spoke to Dr Guenael Rodier, director of communicable diseases at the World Health Organisation about the challenge of finding the cause of the outbreak.

He said “I think actually the value of knowing the cause is to avoid this happening again… but it is a complex and difficult task.”

The European Union is meeting to approve a package of aid for growers, which looked set to significantly top 150 million euro. Listen