Russia bans EU vegetable imports

Russia has stopped the imports of fresh vegetables from all European Union member states in reaction to the recent spread of the deadly E. coli bacteria.

Russia’s Consumer Protection Agency announced that in addition to the ban, all vegetables shipped from EU nations would be confiscated across Russia.

Gennady Onishchenko, the head of Russia’s Consumer Protection Agency, was quoted by the Russian news agency Interfax as saying that the spread of the deadly bacteria had exposed the weakness of the EU’s “lauded sanitary legislation, that Russia is being urged to adopt.”

The European Commission has reacted to the Russian move, saying it will officially complain against what it called a “disproportionate” ban on EU vegetable imports by Russia.

“There will be a letter from [European Union Health] Commissioner [John] Dalli to the Russian authorities within hours, saying this is disproportionate,” Reuters quoted Commission spokesman Frederic Vincent as saying on Thursday.

In a separate development, the World Health Organization has said the E. coli outbreak in Germany is a completely new strain of bacteria.

The infection can cause the deadly complication — haemolytic-uraemic syndrome (HUS) — affecting the blood and kidneys.

“This strain has never been seen in an outbreak situation before,” said Aphaluck Bhatiasevi, a WHO spokesperson.

Preliminary tests have shown that the new strain of bacteria is a mutant form of two different types of E-coli.

Reports indicate that a total of 17 people have died as a result of the bacteria — 16 in Germany and one in Sweden –while 1,500 cases of infection have been reported.

Entero-hemorrhagic E. coli, also known as EHEC, may lead to hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), a disease causing bloody diarrhea, kidney failure, and liver damage.

Organic cucumbers imported from Spain were originally thought to be the source of the outbreak, but tests have refuted the claim and the cause of the disease still remains unclear.

Spain has threatened to file a lawsuit against the German city of Hamburg for making the allegation.