Deadly E.coli outbreak spreads beyond Germany
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Pastor Dale Morgan
May 27, 2011, 11:05:25 PM5/27/11
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Plagues,
Pestilences and Diseases
Deadly E.coli outbreak spreads beyond Germany
From correspondents in Berlin
From: AFP
May 28, 2011 7:55AM
MORE than 270 people in Germany have fallen seriously ill due to potentially deadly bacteria detected in imported Spanish cucumbers, but Madrid said overnight there was "no proof" it is to blame.
Russia meanwhile is considering an import ban on all German vegetables in the wake of the E. coli outbreak.
The Robert Koch Institute, Germany's national disease centre, said more than 60 new cases of haemolytic uraemic syndrome (HUS) had been reported in the past 24 hours, bringing the number in Germany to 276. At least two people have died.
Two German tourists have also been taken to hospital in Austria with the infection, a health ministry spokesman told Austrian news agency APA.
The men spent two weeks cycling to Austria from north Germany before coming down with symptoms, the spokesman said.
In Switzerland, authorities said a woman returning from northern Germany also appeared to be infected with the same food-borne bacteria.
Enterohaemorrhagic E. coli causes HUS, which can result in acute renal failure, seizures, strokes and coma.
The German consumer affairs ministry said investigations were underway to track the origin of the contamination in vegetables now ordered withdrawn from the market.
German authorities have identified organic cucumbers from Spain as a source of the bacteria which has also led to food poisoning in Sweden, Denmark, Britain and the Netherlands.
But Spain's agriculture minister, Rosa Aguilar, said it was too early to blame her country and complained the accusations had caused "irreparable damage" to the sector.
"We do not know where the contamination may have taken place and the European Commission has made clear that it could have happened outside the country of origin," the minister said.
"Until now nothing has been proven and it has not been demonstrated that it happened in the country of origin," she said, adding: "Our level of safety and quality is extraordinarily high."
A spokesman for the AESA food safety agency in Spain said investigations were also underway.
"The Andalusian authorities are investigating to find out where the contamination comes from and when it took place," he said.
"This type of bacteria can contaminate at the origin or during handling of the product."
There has been no report of contamination within Spain, AESA said.
Russia's top health official said a ban on imports of vegetables from Germany was a possible option.
"Because the situation is ongoing and we do not know its causes or the mechanisms by which it is spread, we are examining the option of imposing a ban on German vegetable imports," news agencies quoted Gennady Onishchenko as saying.
There was no information about when a ban might be imposed, but Russians were instructed to avoid eating German vegetables and those planning to visit the country to only eat prepared food.
The German state of Saarland responded to the outbreak by banning the sale of all cucumbers from Spain.
Some supermarket chains, including the giant Rewe, also said they had withdrawn all Spanish-imported cucumbers from their shelves nationwide.
Officials meanwhile defended themselves against charges, mainly from farmers in northern Germany, that they had acted rashly in their warnings to the public.
German vegetable growers have suffered losses of some two million euros ($2.66 million) per day since the middle of the week, a spokesman for the Farmers' Association said overnight.
Meanwhile Spain suspended the activities of two cucumber distributors suspected of exporting tainted products, the European Commission said overnight.
A probe was launched and samples were taken from the soil, water and products from two agricultural sites in the southern provinces of Almeria and Malaga, the European Union's executive arm said.
A suspect consignment of Spanish cucumbers was distributed to Denmark, but authorities there traced the vegetables and withdrew them from the market, the statement said.
Sweden has reported 25 E. coli cases, with 10 of those people developing HUS, the commission said. Denmark reported seven E. coli cases (including three HUS) while Britain counted three cases (two HUS).
The Netherlands had one HUS case and Austria reported two cases of enterohaemorrhagic E. coli.
Read more: http://www.news.com.au/breaking-news/ecoli-outbreak-spreads-beyond-germany/story-e6frfku0-1226064532639#ixzz1Nb44oxq9
Deadly E.coli outbreak spreads beyond Germany
From correspondents in Berlin
From: AFP
May 28, 2011 7:55AM
MORE than 270 people in Germany have fallen seriously ill due to potentially deadly bacteria detected in imported Spanish cucumbers, but Madrid said overnight there was "no proof" it is to blame.
Russia meanwhile is considering an import ban on all German vegetables in the wake of the E. coli outbreak.
The Robert Koch Institute, Germany's national disease centre, said more than 60 new cases of haemolytic uraemic syndrome (HUS) had been reported in the past 24 hours, bringing the number in Germany to 276. At least two people have died.
Two German tourists have also been taken to hospital in Austria with the infection, a health ministry spokesman told Austrian news agency APA.
The men spent two weeks cycling to Austria from north Germany before coming down with symptoms, the spokesman said.
In Switzerland, authorities said a woman returning from northern Germany also appeared to be infected with the same food-borne bacteria.
Enterohaemorrhagic E. coli causes HUS, which can result in acute renal failure, seizures, strokes and coma.
The German consumer affairs ministry said investigations were underway to track the origin of the contamination in vegetables now ordered withdrawn from the market.
German authorities have identified organic cucumbers from Spain as a source of the bacteria which has also led to food poisoning in Sweden, Denmark, Britain and the Netherlands.
But Spain's agriculture minister, Rosa Aguilar, said it was too early to blame her country and complained the accusations had caused "irreparable damage" to the sector.
"We do not know where the contamination may have taken place and the European Commission has made clear that it could have happened outside the country of origin," the minister said.
"Until now nothing has been proven and it has not been demonstrated that it happened in the country of origin," she said, adding: "Our level of safety and quality is extraordinarily high."
A spokesman for the AESA food safety agency in Spain said investigations were also underway.
"The Andalusian authorities are investigating to find out where the contamination comes from and when it took place," he said.
"This type of bacteria can contaminate at the origin or during handling of the product."
There has been no report of contamination within Spain, AESA said.
Russia's top health official said a ban on imports of vegetables from Germany was a possible option.
"Because the situation is ongoing and we do not know its causes or the mechanisms by which it is spread, we are examining the option of imposing a ban on German vegetable imports," news agencies quoted Gennady Onishchenko as saying.
There was no information about when a ban might be imposed, but Russians were instructed to avoid eating German vegetables and those planning to visit the country to only eat prepared food.
The German state of Saarland responded to the outbreak by banning the sale of all cucumbers from Spain.
Some supermarket chains, including the giant Rewe, also said they had withdrawn all Spanish-imported cucumbers from their shelves nationwide.
Officials meanwhile defended themselves against charges, mainly from farmers in northern Germany, that they had acted rashly in their warnings to the public.
German vegetable growers have suffered losses of some two million euros ($2.66 million) per day since the middle of the week, a spokesman for the Farmers' Association said overnight.
Meanwhile Spain suspended the activities of two cucumber distributors suspected of exporting tainted products, the European Commission said overnight.
A probe was launched and samples were taken from the soil, water and products from two agricultural sites in the southern provinces of Almeria and Malaga, the European Union's executive arm said.
A suspect consignment of Spanish cucumbers was distributed to Denmark, but authorities there traced the vegetables and withdrew them from the market, the statement said.
Sweden has reported 25 E. coli cases, with 10 of those people developing HUS, the commission said. Denmark reported seven E. coli cases (including three HUS) while Britain counted three cases (two HUS).
The Netherlands had one HUS case and Austria reported two cases of enterohaemorrhagic E. coli.
Read more: http://www.news.com.au/breaking-news/ecoli-outbreak-spreads-beyond-germany/story-e6frfku0-1226064532639#ixzz1Nb44oxq9
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