Hospitals struggling to help E.coli victims

Germany's hospitals face being overwhelmed as they struggle to treat patients suffering from E.coli infections, a health minister said today. At the same time government scientists said they were no closer to finding the source of the outbreak.

The government is also facing multi-billion-pound lawsuits from German farmers - who have seen the sales of their salad produce nosedive - as well as Spanish cucumber producers initially blamed for the infection.

The number of E.coli related deaths today rose to 23 in Germany since the outbreak five days ago. At least 2,200 victims are known with perhaps twice that number still to display symptoms. Other infections have been reported across Europe and as far afield as the US with most of those believed to have visited the outbreak epicentre of Hamburg before falling ill.

Authorities are still advising consumers to avoid raw tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, and most recently bean sprouts. Experts have criticised the country's muddled bureaucratic process for wasting time in pinpointing the source of the outbreak.