Health Minister Joseph Cassar assured Parliament that there was no risk of E. coli being imported by tourists.

Answering a question by Labour MP Noel Farrugia, he said a number of European countries had reported cases of diarrhoea with blood, caused by the E.coli 1014 microbe. In some cases there had also been complications leading to death. Most cases had been in Germany, but Deutsche-Welle reported yesterday that the death toll in Germany’s killer E.coli outbreak had risen to 36, a day after authorities said more fatalities could not be ruled out. Other fatalities had also been reported in Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands, France, the United Kingdom, Austria and Spain.

Dr Cassar said the Public Regulation Department in Malta was continually monitoring the situation both locally and in Europe. Malta was a participant in European communication systems that immediately reported every case of infection as well as alerts in matters pertaining to health and food security.

The information currently available said there was no risk associated with the arrival of tourists in Malta.

Answering another question by Owen Bonnici (PL), Dr Cassar said that as an EU member-state Malta worked in unison with uniform directives issued after consultation with all member-states.

The Public Regulation Department had been following the case closely since its inception through two systems: the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) which was followed by the Environmental Health Directorate and the Early Warning and Response System (EWRS) which was followed by the Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Directorate. Both systems worked on a network information system on 24-hour basis. There was currently no indication of any specific controls on food and seeds imported from the European Union.