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Health minister insists that new infections are dropping as two deaths reported and 300 more E coli cases Germany reported two more deaths and 300 more E coli cases on Wednesday, but its health minister insisted that new infections were dropping, giving some hope that the world’s deadliest E coli outbreak was abating. Health minister Daniel Bahr spoke before an emergency meeting in Berlin with health officials from the EU, which is concerned about Germany’s handling of the crisis. “I cannot yet give an all-clear, but after an analysis of the numbers there’s reason for hope,” Bahr told ARD television. “The numbers are continuously falling – which nonetheless means that there can still be new cases and that one unfortunately has to expect new deaths too – but overall new infections are clearly going down.” Bahr said the death toll has risen to 26 – 25 in Germany plus one in Sweden. Germany’s national disease control centre, the Robert Koch Institute, said the number of reported cases in Germany rose by more than 300 to 2,648. Nearly 700 of those affected are hospitalised with a serious complication that can cause kidney failure. Another 100 E coli cases are in other European countries and the US. The Koch Institute did not fully back Bahr’s optimism. It said there was a declining trend in new cases but added it is not clear whether this is because the outbreak is truly waning or whether it is because consumers are staying away from the raw vegetables believed to be the source of the E coli . EU health chief John Dalli, meanwhile, demanded that German health authorities work more closely with international experts in fighting the deadly epidemic, saying they should use “the experience and expertise in all of Europe and even outside of Europe,” according to the Die Welt newspaper. “The focus of this meeting is to ensure that all the steps are being taken to get to … the final elimination of this contamination as soon as possible and to see whether any more resources and efforts should be made,” Dalli told reporters as he went into the Berlin meeting. Outside health experts and even German lawmakers have strongly criticised the German investigation, saying the infections should have been spotted much sooner. Weeks after the outbreak began on 2 May, German officials are still looking for its cause. Spanish cucumbers were initially blamed, then ruled out after tests showed they had a different strain of E coli . On Sunday, investigators pointed the finger at German sprouts, only to backtrack a day later when initial tests were negative. On Wednesday, the agriculture minister of Lower Saxony, who had first warned of eating sprouts on Sunday, said authorities are still expecting new lab results from an organic farm that has been the focus of their investigation. Gert Lindemann said authorities still considering the farm in Bienenbüttel in northern Germany a possible source for the E coli outbreak. Bahr reiterated that the source of the infection may never been found, a stance US experts have called a cop-out. A warning against eating cucumbers, tomatoes, lettuce and vegetable sprouts is still in place. Consumers across Europe are shunning fruit and vegetables, with EU farmers claiming losses up to €417m (£372m)) as ripe produce rots in fields and warehouses. E coli Germany Europe Spain guardian.co.uk