Three British nationals in the UK have been infected with E. coli linked to the outbreak in Germany, according to the Health Protection Agency.
It brings the total number of cases in the UK to seven, the other four are from Germany.
It is believed that all patients caught the infection in Germany and brought it back to the UK.
Three of them have developed the potentially deadly complication of haemolytic uraemic syndrome.
Across Europe the number of infections has passed 1,500 cases, 17 people have died – 16 in Germany and one in Sweden.
All the UK cases either went to A&E, walk in centers or had visited their GP.
The HPA continues to advise people travelling to Germany that they should not eat raw cucumber, lettuce or tomatoes and that they should seek medical advice if they have bloody diarrhoea.
Source: UK Health Protection Agency
Haemolytic uraemic syndrome is a very severe kidney complication which destroys red blood cells and can also affect the central nervous system.
Dr Dilys Morgan, from the Health Protection Agency, said: “It’s very unusual for adults to have HUS anyway.
“It mainly affects young children and older adults, but what we’ve seen is predominantly young females getting this condition.
“It’s a very rare organism that’s causing this and it’s thought it has particular properties where the toxin it produces is particularly virulent and therefore is affecting this population more than we would normally expect.”
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