June 2/Berlin/San Francisco Chronicle -- Germany is scrambling to pinpoint the source of a deadly outbreak of food-borne bacterial infections that have killed at least 16 people, sickened hundreds more and sparked a diplomatic squabble with Spain.
The mass outbreak of E. coli infections is the worst of its kind in recent memory in Germany. Since the beginning of May, more than 1,000 residents have fallen ill from contaminated food, including 470 suffering from a more virulent and potentially life-threatening reaction known as hemolytic uremic syndrome, which can cause kidney failure, strokes and seizures.