451

Number of Americans sickened in 2010 by rarer E. coli strains like the one circulating in Germany, the first time these bacteria have caused more illness than the most common type of the pathogen known as O157:H7, which infected 442 people last year. The data, released by the CDC, show that while cases of O157 have been dropping since the mid-1990s, cases of rarer E. coli rose from 2009 to 2010; however, the spike was likely due to better detection, not an actual increase, health officials said. The CDC also reported 8,256 cases of salmonella illness in 2010, a 10% increase over 2006-08. [via The New York Times]