BERLIN — With 10 people dead of infection and 400 cases reported, the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control said Sunday that a bacterial outbreak in northern Germany was one of the largest of its kind ever reported worldwide.

The infection, from a strain of Escherichia coli, can lead to kidney failure and death and is difficult to treat with antibiotics, according to the Robert Koch Institute, which is Germany’s disease control authority.

Fifteen other cases have been identified in Britain, Denmark, the Netherlands and Sweden. The patients are German or had visited northern Germany. Agriculture ministers from the European Union are scheduled to discuss the issue Monday when they meet in Debrecen, Hungary.

Food safety officials in Austria and the Czech Republic said Sunday that small numbers of vegetables that had come from Germany were being pulled off the shelves there, The Associated Press reported.