Jose Luis Garcia Melgarejo, Director General of the Comite Andaluz de Agricultura Ecologica, is pictured during a news conference in Hamburg, June 3, 2011. German officials originally blamed the infections on contaminated cucumbers imported from Spain but later backtracked and apologised to Madrid. More than 1,600 people have been infected by a toxic strain of E.coli bacteria that has killed at least 17 and may be the deadliest yet in human history, health officials said on Friday. REUTERS/Fabian Bimmer (GERMANY - Tags: HEALTH BUSINESS)