michelle kozinski has the latest. >> reporter: hamburg has been the epicenter of the deadliest known e. coli outbreak. 21-year-old student, the bacteria attacking her kidneys and eyesight every day must have all of her blood plasma replaced. >> when i was getting sicker and sicker -- >> reporter: she says the only thing she ate that her family didn't was strawberries. this is still a mystery and almost all the victims young and strong. doctors have never seen anything like it. what we have seen, more than three dozen times since 1995 are bacterial outbreaks linked to sprouts. one in japan in 1996 sickened 9,000 people, killed 17. the cdc and fda issued warnings in the u.s. not to eat raw sprouts for children, the elderly and people with weakened immunity. it turns out the highly nutritious greens of which 300,000 torngs $250 million worth is produced every year in the u.s. could be a perfect bacteria breeding ground. scientist s say because of the new rient, moisture and seeds they contain. if you're worried about sprouts in the u.s., health officials say look, the vast majority of f