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HAMBURG—German agricultural authorities on Sunday evening said bean sprouts might have caused the Escherichia coli bacterial outbreak.

The agricultural ministry in the German state of Lower Saxony reported a bean-sprout farm tested positive for E. Coli, and deliveries of that product had been tied to several restaurants where diners suffered infections. At a news conference, they said a farm employee had been infected with the bacteria, and the farm has been shut down.

The ministry warned against eating bean sprouts, as well as tomatoes, cucumbers and lettuce. Authorities added that testing hadn't been concluded to determine whether the bean sprouts in question carried the same bacterial strain as the one tied to the outbreak.

Despite the bean-sprout alert, the German government on Sunday cautioned on Sunday afternoon that it was too early to conclude whether bean sprouts were a source, and reiterated its recommendation that consumers avoid eating raw lettuce, tomatoes and cucumbers after conducting studies showing that 95% of all patients infected with E. coli ate one of those three things.

In Hamburg, the port city where the outbreak—which has taken 22 lives and sickened more than 1,600 people over the past few weeks—seems to have originated, the mystery outbreak has taken an economic toll as many worried consumers swear off eating lettuce, tomatoes and cucumbers.

Those vegetables typically adorn German sandwiches and most other meals, including the herring and other seafood sandwiches at the affluent, northern city's 300-year-old fish market, which stretches along its massive harbor and bustles with live music, flea-market mavens and hundreds of food vendors.

But early on Sunday, Abdullah Erber was one of dozens who didn't bother bringing lettuce to sell at their open-air stands.

"If it keeps going like this.," he said, trailing off as he looked at the bins of untouched fruit and vegetables across his 30-foot-long long display. "It's already...