Brussels, 30/05/2011 (Agence Europe) - Russia has banned the import of German and Spanish vegetables and could extend the measure to all EU vegetables after 11 deaths in Germany thought to be caused by contaminated cucumbers from Spain, Russia's Chief Sanitary Inspector has announced (see EUROPE 10388). “We have given the order not to allow these imports to cross our border”, Gennadiy Onishchenko, who heads the Rospotrebnedazor, is quoted by the Interfax agency as saying. “If there is no change in the situation, we will ban imports of all vegetables produced in Europe”, he added.
A 91-year-old woman who died on Sunday became the 11th victim of the E.coli outbreak. This bacterium can cause bloody diarrhoea and potentially fatal kidney problems, known as haemolytic-uraemic syndrome (HUS). On Monday afternoon, a 12th person died. Cucumbers grown in Spain could be the source of the outbreak, though contamination could have occurred at any point throughout the distribution chain. Several European countries have reported cases of E.coli infections.
Belgium has decided to ban the import of cucumbers from Spanish distributors, whose products are suspected of causing the E.coli outbreak in Germany, Agriculture Minister Sabine Laruelle said on Monday 30 May. “I have asked the Federal Agency for the Security of the Food Chain (Afsca) to ban imports” from the two companies under suspicion, she said on the sidelines of an EU agriculture ministers meeting in Debrecen, Hungary. She noted, however, that, according to recent checks, no Spanish cucumbers had been imported since the winter.
Spain will call for “a European Union response” for the “irreparable damage” caused by the suspicion which has fallen on Spanish cucumbers, which have been accused by the German authorities of spreading the bacterium, Spanish Agriculture Minister Rosa Aguilar announced on Monday. “The image of Spain is being damaged, the Spanish production sector is being damaged and the Spanish government is not prepared to stand idly by”, she said at a press conference. (L.C./transl.rt)