Originally Posted by
Aloha1
There have been recent reports on this board about people getting seriously ill on LH flights. This is the third worse e.coli outbreak in current history. It is nothing to laugh at. Seventeen people have already died in Germany and thousands have been quite ill from this. This strain has a propensity to cause severe kidney damage and is one of the deadliest e.coli strains. I came across the article yesterday and realized the possible connection to other posters who complained about illness. And, no, simply washing or peeling a cucumber does not eliminate the bacteria.
I read this board regularly, I can only recall one recent story of an unfortunate traveller who spent the flight on the loo.
It is not your classic E.Coli-bacteria. The incubation period is much longer (7 to 10 days).
Please stop spreading panic. If LSG would be the cause or in any way connected to this still local outbreak, we would already know as LSG has to store production samples on a daily basis and needs to keep them refrigerated for weeks to be able to defend themselves against people who claim they got e.g. EHEC on LH F. Also how should that work from a epidemiological point of view. The hotspot is northern germany (not even Hamburg), that is were people reside, if LSG would be part of the distribution chain, you would see hotspots all over the world. Even a connection to the local LSG shop in Hamburg is highly unlikely. Let me put it this way, the epidemoligists would love, if LSG would have been the source as then I case the case already would be solved since LSG has to document origins and production quite detailed.
Also, do not trivialize this potent bacteria and compare it to car crash victims. Yes, 17 dead because of HUS on a global scale is perhaps nothing special (still a tragedy), yet given the spread rate and mortality of normal E.coli strains in western civilizations, this is very significant and worrisome.