E.coli results may be confirmed tomorrow

 

As the number of fatalities from the e.coli outbreak in Germany reaches 14, out of a total of 329 reported cases, the Spanish authorise have called for the investigation into the source of the infection to be sped up.

Spanish cucumbers have been withdrawn from sale from most eastern and western european countries, with Russia even being reported to be contemplating a total ban on all fruit and vegetables from Europe.

On Friday of last week a number of soil samples were taken from a number of commercial greenhouses in Almeria and Murcia and flown to laboratories in Rome for further analysis in either confirming, or ruling out, Spain as the source of the bacterial infection.

problem is that it takes 5 to 7 days to detect the existence of such infection in any cultures arising from the samples being taken, meaning that it will be tomorrow - Wednesday the 1st of June - before anything can be proven with any certainty.

Whilst on one hand the total withdrawal from sale of Spanish cucumbers is an expected safety measure, the industry is said to be losing between 7 and 8 million euros per day in revenue, and will for certain be claiming compensation if it can be proven that the source of the infection did not originate here.