Locally grown bean sprouts may be the 'most convincing' cause of the deadly E.coli outbreak that has killed 22 people and made more than 2,000 ill across Europe, said a German government official.

A company in the Uelzen region had been shut down and further test results were expected today (June 6), Gert Lindemann, agriculture minister in the northern state of Lower-Saxony near Hamburg, was quoted as saying in our sister publication, the Gulf Daily News.

'There was a very clear trail (to this company) as the source of the infection,' Lindemann said, urging consumers in northern Germany to refrain from eating all types of sprouts.

Authorities have been racing to track down the source of the pathogen, which has infected people in 12 countries - all of whom had been travelling in northern Germany. Many of those infected have developed haemolytic uraemic syndrome (HUS), a potentially deadly complication attacking the kidneys.

Qatar has joined Bahrain and several other Middle East countries in temporarily banning imports of fresh cucumbers, tomatoes and lettuces from Spain and Germany because of concerns about a deadly strain of E. coli.

All other fresh fruit and vegetable shipments from Europe must carry a health certificate declaring they are free of the bacteria. – TradeArabia News Service