Onischenko Will Not Save Us from Tomato Death

Since Monday, May, 30 import and sale of crude vegetables - tomatoes, cucumbers and salad leaves grown in Germany and Spain - to the territory of the Russian Federation has been stopped until further notice that is connected with breakout of diarrheal disease caused by enter hemorrhagic collibacillus. Ten people already died, about thousand got ill.

According to the German mass-media, a number of caught collibacillus in Germany exceeded 1,2 thousand people. Earlier it was informed that cucumbers from Spain can be considered the source of infection. In the territory of Germany it led to death of 10 people. The greatest number of diseases is registered in the north of Germany. In particular, more than 400 persons suffered from it in Hamburg, 141 cases of disease were registered in Lower Saxony, 250 - in Schleswig-Holstein. The most part of the diseased - women. In particular, nine of 10 died - women. Federal Ministry for Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection urged inhabitants of Germany refuse from eating fresh vegetables, especially cucumbers, tomatoes and salad until experts wouldn't manage to define infection source. Disease cases have been noticed in Sweden, Denmark, Holland and Britain.

In press-service of Rospotrebnadzor "Interfax" was informed that territorial administrations of Rospotrebnadzor was given instruction to suspend import and sale of fresh vegetables from Spain and Germany in Russia. Earlier on Monday the head of Rospotrebnadzor, Chief State Medical Officer of the Russian Federation Gennady Onischenko declared to "Interfax": "If situation doesn't change, we would forbid import of all European vegetable production".

They say in the department, referring to the data of Institute of Hygiene of Hamburg, that salad cucumbers are the source of infection. However till now there's no definitive information about dangerous products.

"Despite of numerous references Rospotrebnadzor hasn't received information from the European Union about a source of appearance of the given infection, dangerous products and measures undertaken for localization and liquidation of infective episode", - Rospotrebnadzor informed.

Оnischenko told that Russia didn't receive any "intelligible explanations" concerning spreading of acute enteric infection from competent sources of the European Union.

From editorial board: In this case Onischenko tells, obviously, the truth - the European Union has been feeding us with shit and doesn't give clear explanations. To justify EU is necessary to say that, obviously, it has no such.

The most important thing - fresh vegetables is the source of infection. How does infection get into these vegetables? It's rather clear with cows which catch, let us assume, "made cow" disease - animals wander, breathe, get in touch with each other and can transfer infection. While tomatoes and cucumbers don't walk, don't get in touch with each other!

It is clear that if sick person eases himself on tomato bed - it's dangerous to eat such tomatoes. Though we are talking about thousand tons of vegetable production, it is a question of mass poisoning of thousand people in the territory of all Western Europe: Germany, Sweden, Denmark, Holland, Britain.

How could infection get spread among tomatoes and cucumbers purely from technical point of view?

The answer is one - it's a question of centralized deliveries of some fertilizers, chemicals or other components which could have been infected.

It's necessary to make important deviation here. What tomatoes and cucumbers does the European Union deliver us? After all it is known that considerable part of vegetable production intended for export to Eastern Europe isn't recommended to realization in Western. Manufacture of these vegetables (manufacture is the right word) reminds traditional beds very little. Actually it's either pure hydroponics, or almost hydroponics where necessary nutrients are brought into artificial ground. Simultaneous infection of very big parties of vegetables when infected component gets at once to a number of manufacturers is possible, microbes at that appear not only on the surface of vegetables but inside - there's no use from washing them.

Otherwise infection source at first wouldn't be so global, in the second it would be localized long time ago already. While EU authorities are silent as all EU can be infection source.

Onischenko has nothing to do here - similar infective episodes should be commonplace during globalization epoch.

Аnatoly Baranov

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