Brussels, 27/05/2011 (Agence Europe) - The EU is on high alert to prevent any possibility of the spread through the Union of the deadly intestinal bacterium E.coli which has been found in the food chain, mainly in northern Germany, where 214 cases have been reported and two deaths have been confirmed, with over 140 people suffering from serious complications. Sweden, with 10 cases, Denmark, four cases, the United Kingdom, three cases, and the Netherlands, one case, have also been affected.
After advising people who had recently travelled to Germany to consult their GP if they should show any signs of potentially worrying symptoms, such as bloody diarrhoea, the European Commission identified one of the sources of the outbreak on Thursday evening 26 May: organic cucumbers from two provinces of Spain (Almeria and Malaga). The information received from the Spanish authorities was immediately passed on to all other member states through the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF).
The Spanish authorities are now focusing their efforts on pinpointing the exact site of production of the organic cucumbers in question. Investigations are continuing in Germany to identify other potential sources and a batch of cucumbers originating in the Netherlands and traded in Germany is also under investigation. “Contamination can occur at any time: during production, transport or unloading”, said Frédéric Vincent, spokesman for Health and Consumer Affairs John Dalli, on Friday. The Commission is monitoring the situation daily. “In 2009, 3,573 cases of E.coli contamination were reported in 24 member states, including 878 in Germany”, Vincent said. This time, however, the bacterium is particularly dangerous as it is resistant to numerous antibiotics.
The RASSF allows rapid, effective exchange of information among member states and the Commission when a threat to human health is detected in the food or feed chain. All members of the RASSF (EU27, the Commission, the European Food Safety Authority [EFSA] and the EFTA [Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Switzerland] Surveillance Authority) maintain a 24-hour per day service to ensure that urgent notices are sent, received and passed on as swiftly as possible. (A.N..transl.rt)