Public health officials in Germany say contaminated sprouts are the source of an E. coli outbreak that has claimed the lives of at least 30 people.

The head of the Robert Koch Institute, Mr. Reinhard Burger, has said the pattern of the outbreak points to the sprouts as the source. Health officials initially blamed the bacterial outbreak on Spanish sprouts and vegetables.

This has cost the European Union farmers millions of dollars, as their produce was left to rot in fields and warehouses. The outbreak has sickened more than 2,800 people and sparked renewed tensions between the EU and Russia, where officials are refusing to back down on a total ban of all EU vegetables.