Deadly E coli strain ‘never seen before’

THE E coli bacteria responsible for a mysterious outbreak that has left 18 people dead and sickened hundreds is a new strain that has never been seen before, the World Health Organisation said yesterday.

Preliminary genetic sequencing suggests the strain is a mutant form of two different E coli bacteria, with aggressive genes that could explain why the outbreak appears to be so massive and dangerous, the agency said.

“This is a unique strain that has never been isolated from patients before,” said Hilde Kruse, a food safety expert at WHO. The new strain has “various characteristics that make it more virulent and toxin-producing” than the many E coli strains people naturally carry in their intestines.