First farm E. coli tests negative

The farm supplies sprouts to Hamburg and a wide area of northern Germany

The first tests from a north German farm suspected of being the source of an E. coli outbreak are negative, officials say.

Of 40 samples from the farm being examined, they said 23 tested negative.

Officials had said earlier that bean sprouts produced at the farm in Uelzen, south of Hamburg, were the most likely cause of the outbreak.

The outbreak, which began three weeks ago and is concentrated in Hamburg, has left 22 people dead.

Initially, German officials had pointed to Spanish cucumbers as the probable cause of the illness.

The farm in Uelzen is about 100km (62m) south of Hamburg and supplies restaurants and markets in the city and neighbouring German states.

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