Zapatero rails at EU as fatal E. coli strain spreads

The source of the outbreak of a deadly strain of E. coli in Europe is still unknown but the cause of the fatal bacteria has been identified by a team of bacteriologists from Hamburg University Clinic and the Genomic Institute of Beijing as a previously unknown mutation.

The Hamburg scientists believe that thousands of people may be incubating the bacteria and that hospital admittances and fatalities will increase. The bacteria has so far caused 17 deaths in Germany and one in Sweden. "The sense of impotence is like that against the plague in the Middle Ages," one microbiologist said.

With Spanish cucumbers definitively ruled out as the source, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero accused Brussels of acting slowly and"ignoring the rules of the game" of cross-border EU cooperation. Spain is to seek recompense for losses due to the health alert. Russia, meanwhile, has banned all imports of EU produce.