« Spanish Cucumbers, E.Coli and German Supergerms »
Roberta Kyle, Senior Editor | Saturday, June 4, 2011 at 6:32AM 
So far19 people have died and at least 1900 have fallen ill all over Europe from a new and virulent strain of E.coli. Some of the stricken have recovered, but others are still in intensive care or on kidney dialysis and new cases are still coming in. Symptoms, according to survivors, are the usual stomach cramps, headaches etc. but in spades.
At first the Germans blamed Spanish cucumbers, angering Spaniards. Then it was discovered that 17 people had fallen ill after eating in one restaurant in northern Germany and not after eating Spanish cucumbers so Spanish cucumbers were exonerated, but not before sales of fresh veggies tanked all over Europe, especially in Spain. Oops.
Now people are scared and scientists are working on finding the real source of the outbreak. Russia, the EU’s largest customer for fresh fruit and vegetables has summarily banned all EU vegetable imports. This is not going to be a pretty picture
Whatever the source is, it looks like we’ve got a new, man made superbug on our hands, and clearly, what starts in Europe will not stay in Europe. The entire world needs to be on notice. Welcome to the global village, folks. Four cases have already been identified in Americans recently returned from Germany. I don’t think we’ve heard the end of this supergerm. In fact, if you ask me, this is just the beginning.
Wash your salad greens very very thoroughly and don’t forget to peel the cucumbers, OK?
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Reader Comments (2)
Very unfortunate that amid the reporting of this e-coli outbreak, people need to know the source is animal not vegetable as e-coli doesn't grow on vegetables. What is being highlighted is the lack of hygiene practices (stating the obvious here!) It's no secret that there are some bad farming practices in Europe and I ask is the source to do with antibiotics? Something to investigate, ie grain fed cattle eating hormone filled fattening grains and the spread of manure as fertilizer on agricultural land. Could be storage facilities, but I wonder how far down the food chain one has to investigate this issue.
Real super. :(