HEALTH ministry officials are on high alert after a fatal outbreak of E Coli poisoning hit north Europe at the weekend.
By yesterday afternoon, there had been almost 300 confirmed cases of poisoning in Germany, Sweden, Holland, the UK and Denmark, making it the worst outbreak of its kind in Europe.
And while Cyprus is so far unaffected, the Health Ministry issued advice to travellers to the affected countries, readied the state labs and had contacted food importers to assess the risk to Cypriots.
According to Chief Health Ministry epidemiologist Chrystalla Hadjianastasiou, the source of the E Coli outbreak is believed to be a batch of exported Spanish cucumbers.
She advised travellers to the affected countries to avoid cucumbers, tomatoes and leafy vegetables such as lettuce and spinach.
The government had not issued a warning against travel to the affected countries.
Hadjianastasiou said: “(the outbreak) is still under investigation, but according to the information we have, the bacteria have been found in cucumbers that come from Spain”.
“No-one in Spain has become ill. We do not import products like the aforementioned. However, importers have been told to inform authorities about what they are importing,” she added.
According to the BBC, the contaminated foods had caused victims to suffer from hemolytic-uremic syndrome (HUS), which is characterised by anaemia, kidney failure and low blood platelet count.
The disease typically affects children, and is fatal in up to 10 per cent of cases.
Hadjianastasiou also advised anyone who exhibited the symptoms of HUS or E Coli poisoning to contact doctors immediately, especially if they had recently travelled to any of the affected countries or Spain.
The early symptoms of HUS include; blood in the stools, irritability, fever, lethargy, vomiting and diarrhea. If left untreated, HUS can progress to include the following symptoms; bruising, decreased consciousness, low urine output, pallor, seizures, a skin rash and jaundice.
“The microbes come from ruminants and cows, who are healthy carriers of this bacteria and can transfer it to humans through infected faeces” said Hadjianastasiou.
She added: “The microbes enter into the food chain and can be transmitted through infected food stuffs such as unpasteurised milk, cheese and raw beef.”
They can also be transmitted from person to person through close contact, so personal hygiene, and in particular washing hands after going to the toilet, plays an important role in preventing further contamination and infection.
The Sweden-based European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDPC) said this was one of the largest ever HUS outbreaks and the largest reported in Germany.
An ECDPC official said: “While HUS cases are usually observed in children under five years of age, in this outbreak 87 per cent are adults, with a clear predominance of women (68 per cent).”
