WATANI International
21 August 2011
Last July, Germany’s federal disease control institute declared that an E.Coli outbreak, described by the institute as the “biggest outbreak of E.Coli in Germany” was over. The epidemic, which spread in other places in Europe and peaked in May, infected over 4,000 people and killed 52. All but two of the deaths were recorded in Germany.
Initially it was thought that cucumbers imported from Spain had caused the outbreak, but this later proved incorrect. However, the Spanish produce industry suffered as a result of its association with the E.Coli outbreak.
Finally, a batch of fenugreek seeds from Egypt was claimed to be the source of the outbreak. The seeds were used to grow bean sprouts, which had been eaten by most of the victims.
Fenugreek seeds to blame
The health crisis in Germany ended, but another crisis of a different nature erupted in Egypt.
The European Union declared a ban on the import of 15 Egyptian cultured seeds. This raised the fury of Egyptian growers; they demonstrated in front of the EU office in Cairo calling for the ban to be lifted or for similar treatment for EU-origin goods. An independent committee was formed of agricultural experts to attempt to prove the Egyptian fenugreek seeds were innocent of the claim to have been the source of the E.Coli infection. Especially that declarations by high-ranking EU officials said that the claim was based upon the food eaten by most of the victims not on any conclusive microbiological test.
An Egyptian official delegation travelled to Brussels and Geneva hoping to resolve the crisis, but no agreement was reached; relations between Egypt and the EU soured. The ban is expected to cost Egypt an estimated EGP25 million (USD4.2 million), and has the government frustrated as it attempts to put the country’s economy back on track following the severe economic repercussions due to the 25 January Revolution.
Graciously, the World Health Organisation stepped in, offering to work a rapprochement between both sides. It was decided that a EU mission should visit Egypt. A date was set for September but, upon the request of the Egyptian ministry of agriculture, an earlier date was decided for today, 21 August.
No cases in Egypt
Watani talked to Nasr al-Tantawi, medical officer at WHO representative office in Egypt. Dr Tantawi explained that there are various strains of E.Coli; the microbe is even present naturally in the intestines of human beings and animals. But the strain that caused the infections and deaths in Europe, he said, was a particularly fierce one. It causes abdominal pain, nausea, bloodied diarrhoea, and fever. The infection is more common during the summer months, he said, and the symptoms are worse in children and older people, especially in case they are already ailing. Just like most microbes, Dr Tantawi reminded, E.Coli does not survive boiling.
This last remark answered the obvious question: “If Egyptian fenugreek seeds are to blame for the infection, howcome no cases appeared in Egypt? And would not this fact refute the claim that the Egyptian seeds are the cause of the infection?”
“No, it does not,” Dr Tantawi said. “While the seeds are sprouted and eaten in salads in Europe, this is only one way Egyptians normally consume them. Egyptians do not eat the seeds raw and seldom eat them sprouted; they crush them and use them as an ingredient in cooked or baked foods, or they boil them into a drink. Fenugreek seeds drink is very popular and is believed to be among the healthiest drinks.
Almost all those who contracted the disease in Europe were found to have eaten the Egyptian sprouted seeds.
It would take further investigation and tests to reach any conclusive result as to whether or not the Egyptian seeds are in fact to blame for the E.Coli infection in Europe.
Egyptian seeds banned
“Why have 15 Egyptian agricultural products, apart from the allegedly culprit fenugreek seeds, been banned from importation to Europe?” Watani asked. A source at the EU office in Cairo told Watani that the move was taken as a precautionary measure. The banned products include seeds that can be sprouted, and are all listed on one code for agricultural produce. The E.Coli microbe readily multiplies under conditions of humidity and heat—the ideal conditions for sprouting.
The ban was declared until next October. But this, the source said, is subject to the outcome of the visit by the EU fact-finding mission which should check the safety and quality of Egyptian agricultural produce. The entire situation should accordingly be re-assessed; depending on the reassessment, the ban may be lifted, partially lifted or extended. But, the source explained, any time it is confirmed Egyptian seeds are safe to sprout and consume, the ban will be lifted.
Another United Nations organisation concerned with food safety is the Food and Agriculture Organisation, the FAO. Watani approached Fatma Hashim, the FAO regional representative in Egypt, for the role of FAO regarding the current fenugreek seed crisis.
“FAO offers consultations and advice on food safety and animal health to any country upon request,” Dr Hashim said. “The Egyptian agricultural ministry did not ask for our help on the E.Coli issue.”
But does not FAO take the initiative on its own in case of epidemics, such as its involvement during the last couple of years during the swine flu or bird flu? Watani asked. “Those were pandemics,” Dr Hashim said, “the E.Coli infections were, strictly speaking, cases of food poisoning.”
One specific farm
Dr Hashim said Egypt had asked the European Union to send a fact-finding mission that would work with Egyptian counterparts, to monitor and follow-up the cultivation of fenugreek seeds on the farm whose produce is alleged to have caused the infections. The allegation does not involve Egyptian fenugreek seeds in their entirety, she stressed; the infection is believed to have emanated from seeds exported by a specific farm.
Since Egyptian agricultural experts insist they possess the evidence that Egyptian fenugreek seeds are safe to consume, why has Egypt not been able to refute the allegation that its seeds caused the infection? “Egypt has claimed that it is in possession of all the scientific documents and analyses that confirm the safety of the seeds. But the problem is that, on the international scale, the matter was not tackled properly; Egypt should have taken measures to make its case clearer. When the Spanish cucumber was claimed to have caused the infection, the Spanish authorities swiftly conducted investigations and questioned the victims and their families, then presented to the Germans the results of the investigations and lab analysis and categorically proved that the allegation was unsubstantiated. The Egyptian side did none of that.
Egyptian ‘no comment’
With the EU mission expected in Cairo today, Watani enquired of the EU Cairo office on the schedule of the visit. “The visit,” they said, “has been arranged in agreement with the Egyptian authorities. A schedule has been set, which will include talks with officials as well as field visits. The specific farm whose produce is suspected of spreading the infection will naturally come under scrutiny, as well as other possible farms whose lots were exported to Europe by the same exporter. All suspect farms or parties will come under investigation. The seeds will be tracked through all the stages they undergo from cultivation and through to packaging, storage, shipment, sprouting, and so on, till they reach the consumer.”
Will the EU offer Egypt consultation or assistance if the country requires it in order to cultivate healthy seeds that can be welcome on world markets? Watani asked. “Of course it will,” the EU source said. “The EU is already offering Egypt support and assistance in many fields, and there is a wide groundwork for joining efforts.”
Curiously, the Egyptian agricultural quarantine authority—the authority responsible for checking the safety of agricultural produce, confirmed that it possesses all the evidence necessary to clear the fenugreek seeds, but maintained a ‘no comment’ stance upon the visit of the fact finding commission until it arrives.
It is a fact that the test for E.Coli is simple enough, but is not conclusive. A positive result would indeed be conclusive, but a negative result is not. In this sense, the Egyptian seeds can only be cleared of the allegation of causing that notorious E.Coli outbreak through further efforts and investigation.
For its part, the EU has announced it is allocating a 2.1 million Euro on new E.Coli research over five years, as part of a broader 12 million Euro programme to study pathogenic and public health threats.