German health officials have reported 365 new cases – 100 of which are serious – of the E.coli outbreak as it continues to spread across Europe.

The deadly bacteria – linked to contaminated vegetables – has killed 16 people and made more than 1,500 ill in Germany, Sweden and other countries since it surfaced in mid-May.

And health experts say more people are expected to inundate hospitals with the bug in the coming days.

The rise in the number of infections comes as Spain threatens to sue Hamburg for damages after the German city blamed Spanish cucumbers as the source of the bacteria.

Spanish farmers, who have been forced to throw away their produce, say they are losing around £175 million (200 million euros) per week in sales.

Spain Agriculture minister Rosa Aguilar, who on Monday ate Spanish-grown cucumbers to prove they were safe, said Madrid would be asking “for extraordinary measures to compensate for the huge losses imposed on the Spanish sector.”

German officials admitted on Tuesday that latest tests showed the cucumbers did not carry the dangerous bacteria strain.

The exact source of the virulent strain of E.coli is still not known.

In the meantime, the German government has warned consumers to avoid all cucumbers, tomatoes and lettuce.

Dr Robert Tauxe, a foodbourne disease expert at the US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, said the outbreak was like nothing he had seen before.

“There has not been such an outbreak before that we know of in the history of public health,” he said.

“It’s extraordinary to see so many cases of the kidney complication from a foodbourne illness.”

In comparison, he brought up the E.coli outbreak in the United Kingdom in 1996 which saw 216 cases and 11 deaths reported.

E.coli is found in the digestive systems of humans, cows and other mammals. It has been responsible for a large number of food poisoning outbreaks around the world.

In most cases, it simply causes diarrhea and other non-lethal stomach ailments.

But the bacteria involved in the latest outbreak, EHEC, causes more severe symptoms, ranging from bloody diarrhea to hemolytic uremic syndrome – the rare kidney condition that the most seriously ill patients are suffering from.

At least 373 people in Germany and 15 in Sweden have come down with the syndrome, which normally kills roughly 5% of the patients who get it.

(Source: Sky News)