Increasing number of cases of dangerous EHEC bacteria in Belgium

In Belgium, an increasing number of patients with the EHEC bacterium has been found. Five people have already died in Flemish residential care centers. In the meantime, the bacterium has also been established in Wallonia. A possible link with the Flemish cases is being investigated. The bacterium is usually spread through food.

Since August 18, a total of around twenty infections have been confirmed in six Flemish residential care centers. In a case it concerned a staff member. The deceased residents already had poor health, making them extra vulnerable. It is also difficult to determine whether the bacterium was the direct cause of death or whether the death has been accelerated.

In Ottingnies in Wallonia, eight suspicious cases have been reported, a patient died there. Two people are in the hospital. It is not yet known which of them were infected with the EHEC bacterium.

What is the EHEC or STEC bacterium?

The EHEC bacterium is a variant of the E. colibacteria. EHEC (the abbreviation STEC is used in Belgium) is much less common. In Belgium, 80 to 130 cases are known a year, reports the Flemish broadcaster VRT.

Symptoms are diarrhea, stomach complaints, headache or fever. Especially people with weak health, such as the elderly in nursing homes or very young children, are at risk.

The bacterium comes from the entrails of animals and usually spreads through food, for example by eating insufficiently heated beef or drinking unpasteurized milk.

Research has shown that in all Flemish cases it is the same genetic type of the bacterium. That would indicate one source. The Federal Food Agency (FAVV) investigates the food chain of the residential care centers involved. The infected residents are also being investigated to make connections.

The Walloon Agency for Life Quality (AVIQ) is investigating whether it is the same trunk as in Flanders.

Meanwhile, there is no longer any use of supplied meals and cooking is done in the houses.

In 2011, more than 3800 people were infected with the EHEC bacteria in Germany. Forty people died as a result of the infection. In the Netherlands, some people were also infected at that time.