On May 23, a surge in EHEC infections was reported at hospitals mainly in northern Germany; the outbreak was unusual in that it caused atypically severe symptoms in adult females. By May 26, state health authorities had identified over 600 EHEC cases, including 214 severe cases with hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), and confirmed the causative agent as a highly virulent HUS-associated EHEC 41 strain belonging to serotype O104:H4. Faced with a rapidly growing number of cases, health authorities notified the EU of a potential public health emergency of international concern and implemented new surveillance systems (2) . Media reports suggested that the public health infrastructure was strained to a breaking point, as hospitals in northern Germany issued appeals for blood donations and transferred cases to hospitals in neighboring states. These problems were compounded by the lack of an effective HUS treatment, causing health officials to resort to an emergency experimental treatment instead. As the outbreak continued to spread, up to 130 cases primarily associated with travel were detected in 13 other European countries (3). The EU responded by implementing a new case definition twice over the course of 1 month, to allow for effective surveillance and treatment of cases (3, 4) . By June 29, an investigation launched by the European Food Safety Agency (EFSA) had determined that contaminated fenugreek seeds imported from Egypt were the most probable source of the outbreak (3, 5) . Previous efforts to locate the source of infection had failed, resulting in strained trade relations and major economic losses among EU member states (3). On July 26, Germany's Robert Koch Institute (RKI) declared the outbreak over and reported a cumulative total of 4321 EHEC cases, including 852 HUS cases and 52 fatalities (6) .