Russia has banned the import of all fresh vegetables from The European Union because of the E. coli outbreak centred on Germany, BBC reports.

The country's chief medical officer said EU-produced vegetables would be seized across Russia.

More than 1,500 people have been infected by enterohaemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC), which can cause the deadly haemolytic-uraemic syndrome (HUS).

Seventeen people have died - 16 of them in Germany and one in Sweden.

Earlier suggestions that infected Spanish cucumbers were the source of the outbreak have now been discounted, with German health officials admitting they do not know where this particularly virulent strain of of E.coli has come from.

Russia banned vegetable imports from Germany and Spain earlier this week.

Consumer protection agency head Gennady Onishchenko announced the the extension of the ban to cover fresh vegetables from anywhere in the European Union.

He said orders to stop all incoming European vegetable shipments had been issued to Russian customs authorities, adding: "I call on people to forgo imported vegetables in favour of domestic products."

He criticised food safety standards in the EU.

"This shows that Europe's lauded health legislation - one which Russia is being urged to adopt - does not work," he said.