[JLS]

As the old saying goes, the British and the Americans are two peoples seperated by a common language. I can only guess from this article and the description of what was done that sterilize has a different and less permanent meaning in UK English?

[Da_Shrimp]

I can only guess from this article and the description of what was done that sterilize has a different and less permanent meaning in UK English?

No, it generally means the same thing. I can only guess that the word was used to give an extra shock impact to the article!