EU Health and Consumer Affairs Commissioner John Dalli yesterday called “disproportionate” a ban on all vegetable imports from Spain imposed in Germany, Austria and Switzerland following the outbreak of E.coli.
He said previous suggestions that the contamination developed from imported Spanish cucumbers resulted to be untrue.
He is now looking into the possibility of EU compensation for Spanish farmers for their huge losses caused unnecessarily by the crisis.
“The initial suspicion of the German authorities, that cucumbers from Spain were the cause, has not been confirmed by the test results available up to now. Despite the fact that the sampled cucumbers did test positive to E.coli, they did not confirm the presence of the specific serotype which is responsible for the outbreak affecting humans. Intensive work is taking place to pinpoint the source of contamination,” Mr Dalli told the Brussels press corps.
Mr Dalli said Hamburg in North Germany has been identified as the epicentre of the outbreak although he stopped short of warning people not to travel to the area. He said that although nine people had died due to this bacterial contamination, there were indications that the disease was subsiding as fewer people had been admitted to hospital in the past hours.
“We are expecting further results. However, there is no cause of alarm as the outbreak is concentrated in Hamburg and the surrounding areas and all those contaminated are connected to this area.”
Commissioner Dalli said that according to the latest information reaching Brussels the E.coli outbreak is responsible for nine deaths in Germany and one in Sweden. A total of 1,169 cases of E.coli have been reported in these two countries as well as in Denmark, the Netherlands, France, the UK, Austria, Spain and Switzerland.
“Citizens are advised to apply common hygiene rules to limit the risk of contamination: fruit and vegetables need to be washed thoroughly. Wash your hands before preparing food or eating, and after using the bathroom or changing diapers. Wash thoroughly knives, plates and other utensils,” Commissioner Dalli advised.