American E.coli fears as toddler dies and more fall ill... on the day the Agricu

[Guest guest]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2000210/E-coli-outbreak-Fears-reached-Am\

erica-Virginia-girl-dies.html

American E.coli fears as toddler dies and more fall ill... on the day the

Agriculture Secretary says it won't happen in U.S.

By Bates

Last updated at 5:00 PM on 7th June 2011

A girl of two who died at the weekend had been infected with E.coli sparking

fears of a Germany-style outbreak in America - as the Agriculture Secretary said

it could never happen here.

The child, from Dryden, Virginia, died after being exposed to the lethal strain

that already appears to have spread throughout the South.

Health officials have admitted that in Tennessee one child is in hospital and

several others are being treated for exposure to the virus.

The disclosures have stoked fears that the U.S. could be heading for a similar

outbreak as that which hit Germany in which 23 people have died and 2,330 are

ill.

But they came on the day that Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack made the

extraordinary claim he was `reasonably confident' that America will not face a

similar crisis.

In an interview he would only say that the development `reinforces that we need

to remain vigilant here about food safety'.

In the wake of the crisis in Germany, the European Commission has proposed a

$219m aid package for farmers who have been affected.

Today public health experts sharply contradicted Mr Vilsack saying that a

serious outbreak in the U.S. was already upon us.

`Could it happen here? It already has,' infectious disease expert Larry Lutwick

of SUNY-Downstate College of Medicine in Brooklyn told USA Today.

Tests have revealed that the two-year-old victim died after exposure to E.coli

0157:H7, which is known to cause sickness in humans.

She was taken to the Pediatric Unit of the Medical Centre in Washington

County, Tennessee with bloody diarrhea but died soon after.

A coroner's report said that she was `believed to be exposed to E.coli from a

contaminated pool'.

Her brother was also reportedly taken to hospital with similar symptoms.

A spokesman for the Virginia Department of health confirmed it was investigating

the death but that it was too early to tell the cause.

`We can confirm the death of a child (within the last few days) in the Western

Region of Virginia, said .

`The child was ill with a toxin-producing bacterial infection in the

gastrointestinal tract. The investigation is continuing. We are awaiting lab

results. E.coli is one of a number of things that can cause these types of

infections.'

In Tennessee Northeast Regional Health Office Medical Director Dr Kirschke

confirmed several cases of a similar strain.

`We have one case of the severe type in Tennessee,' Dr Kirschke said.

`It may be similar to what the two kids from Virginia had.

`Everyone is doing fine. From the initial tests, these look like the less severe

type of E coli. We are treating it like an outbreak. We are investigating it

like an outbreak.'

EU agriculture ministers were forced to hold crisis talks after sales of salad

vegetables plunged.

Apart from one victim from Sweden, all the victims have been in Germany although

twelve countries are affected.

The source has been pinpointed to bean sprouts from a farm the north of the

country but in a surprising development more than half of the samples examined

from its grounds have tested negative for E.coli.

Epidemiologist Elaine Scallan of the University of Colorado in Denver said that

the fact food is not grown locally and comes from all over the world `poses a

lot of challenges' for health officials.

`We are relying on state and local health departments to pick up these

outbreaks, just like their equivalents in Europe,' she said.

Authorities have instructed people to thoroughly cook their meat, wash raw

fruits and vegetables, and avoid swimming in places like rivers and lakes that

could have access to agricultural run-off.

In Europe emergency talks are being held by EU agricultural ministers as they

discuss whether to compensate European farms for losses incurred by the

outbreak.

The EU's farm chief has proposed £150 million ($219 million) in aid to help

producers hit by the continent's E.coli contamination crisis.

European Union Farm Commissioner Dacian Ciolos said today agriculture ministers

will consider whether farmers can recoup from EU coffers up to 30 percent of the

cost of vegetables that cannot be sold because of the German E.coli crisis.

The European Commission is considering lifting restrictions on state aid to the

sector to allow governments to bail out those forced to dump their produce while

the search continues for the cause of the strain.

Germany has been warned to take more care over its food safety announcements in

the wake of the E.coli fiasco which caused panic across Europe.

The European Union health chief said it must guard against premature - and

inaccurate - conclusions on the source of contaminated food.

Health Commissioner Dalli told the EU parliament in Strasbourg that such

public information must be scientifically sound and foolproof before it becomes

public.

Over the past days Germany first pointed a finger at Spanish cucumbers, then at

local bean sprouts, before backtracking on both.

The 'all-clear' for Spanish cucumbers came too late to halt the mass destruction

of the vegetable - not just in Spain but across the continent as consumers

avoided buying them in the wake of 22 deaths in Germany.

Sales have plummeted and prices dropped and the same fate threatens bean sprouts

and any other farm product named as the possible cause before tests have been

completed.

A Commission spokesman said: 'There has been a drop in consumption around Europe

and it is important that we find a European solution to what is an EU-wide

problem at the moment, to support fruit and vegetable growers across the EU.'

He went on: 'The Commission is looking at various legal options which are

available, covering farmers who are members of producer organisation and those

that are not.'