Thailand has found traces of E coli bacteria on avocados imported from Spain and are examining further if they are similar to the strain that is causing the E coli outbreak in Germany.
Public Health Minister Jurin Laksanavisit said final lab test results could be released between Sunday and Tuesday. But he said people should not worry as E coli contamination of fruit and vegetables is normal and most of the strains are harmless.
In Singapore, only 0.01 per cent of imported avocados come from Europe. The Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority, in an email reply to MediaCorp, said avocado imports here are mainly from Australia, Mexico and New Zealand.
Thailand also imports only a small amount of fruit and vegetables from Europe.
Its Food and Drug Administration began checking imported fruit and vegetables from the European Union on June 2.
The agency is also testing imported Kohlrabis or turnips from Europe for any contamination.
Mr Jurin said the E coli was found on a sample of 2kg of avocados randomly collected at a checkpoint at Suvarnabhumi Airport.
He advised people to wash fruit and vegetables thoroughly or cook them to kill bacteria.
He also said his ministry has ordered the Department of Medical Service to set up a team of specialists to give advice to doctors in state and private hospitals across the country on treating patients with diarrhoea.
Meanwhile, Dutch authorities yesterday recalled red beet sprouts from three countries after samples were found to be contaminated with a strain of E coli bacteria that was apparently less dangerous than the one causing Europe's deadly E coli crisis.
The Dutch Food Safety Authority said laboratories were still trying to identify the Dutch strain, but there have been no immediate reports of serious illness from it.
The deadly E coli bacteria outbreak has claimed at least 27 lives and left more than 2,900 people ill.
Enterohaemorrhagic E coli (EHEC) can cause bloody diarrhoea as well as full-blown haemolytic uraemic syndrome (HUS), a serious kidney ailment.
Though the number of those sickened is still rising, Robert Koch Institute - the German government's disease-control agency - said the new cases being reported have been dropping for several days.
0 comments:
Post a Comment