03/06/2011 12:13
Spain seeks compensation for E. coli blame
Anger is growing in Spain over being blamed as the source of the E. coli outbreak that has killed 18 people and left hundreds more seriously ill.
Spanish PM Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said Spain would demand reparations for the economic losses suffered.
The outbreak - centered on Germany - is a new form of the E. coli bacterium, health researchers have said.
Seven people in the UK have the infection. They are all thought to have contracted it in Germany.
Spanish fruit and vegetable exporters estimate they are losing 200m euros ($290m; £177m) a week in sales every week after Germany said earlier in the outbreak that it probably originated with Spanish cucumbers.
No evidence of this has been found and researchers are scrambling to find the source, BBC reported.