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E coli outbreak 'trail' leads to German bean sprouts, authorities say

Germans still being warned off cucumber and tomatoes as suspicion falls on farm south of Hamburg




* Peter Walker, Abby D'Arcy Hughes in Berlin, Adam Gabbatt and agencies
* guardian.co.uk, Monday 6 June 2011 14.39 BST

German officials are waiting for laboratory tests that are expected to confirm a deadly outbreak of E coli was caused by bean sprouts grown near Hamburg.

The news that the deaths of 22 people were more than likely caused by German-grown organic produce has caused outrage in Spain, which has seen a slump in demand for its vegetables after Spanish-grown cucumbers were initially blamed by Germany.

The EU is to hold an emergency meeting to consider ways to compensate Spanish farmers for their losses. "There has been a drop in consumption around Europe," said European commission spokesman Roger Waite. "It has taken on a European-wide crisis impact so we really need to have a European-wide solution."

The aggressive strain of the E coli bacterium has so far killed 22 people, made more than 2,200 ill and prompted Russia to bar EU fruit and vegetable imports.

The sprouts are believed to have come from the organic Gärtenhof farm in the village of Steddorf, near the small town of Bienenbüttel in the Uelzen district of Lower Saxony, 40 miles south of Hamburg.

Klaus Verbeck, who runs the farm, told a German newspaper that he could not understand how the outbreak could have come from the sprouts, saying there were no animals or animal products on the site. "The salad sprouts are grown only from seeds and water, and they aren't fertilised at all," he told the Neue Osnabruecker Zeitung. "There aren't any animal fertilisers used in other areas on the farm either."

A separate statement on the farm's website said the owners were "shocked and concerned" by the news, and that they had sampled for E coli in January and May. Both tests had been negative.

The farm has informed all customers and withdrawn its goods.

While bean sprouts are seen as a healthy food, they have been linked to a series of previous E coli and salmonella outbreaks. US experts have warned for over a decade that young children, the elderly and those with weakened immune systems should not consume them raw, advice now mirrored by the UK's Food Standards Agency.

The sprouts are grown in water heated to about 38C, ideal conditions for bacteria to flourish.

Hugh Pennington, emeritus professor of bacteriology at Aberdeen University, who has led official inquiries into two UK E coli outbreaks, said he expected the source to be the beans used to grow the sprouts. "You can't rule out the possibility that it was subsequent contamination [on the Gärtenhof farm] but my guess is that, from seeing the cases we've had over the years, that whatever happened on the farm was almost irrelevant. It was really where they were getting their beans from and where the beans had been grown."

German ministers have said they expect the results of tests soon. "While we have strong and clear indications that a farm in [the] Uelzen [district of Lower Saxony] is involved, we have to wait for the official lab results," said the health minister, Daniel Bahr.

The health scare has strained ties between Germany and Spain and led the Russian prime minister, Vladimir Putin, to say he would not "poison" Russians by lifting an embargo on EU fruit and vegetable imports.

Lower Saxony's agriculture minister, Gert Lindemann, said it was possible the contaminated produce had found its way into a variety of foods but there was a "clear trail" to the farm. "It is the most convincing ... source for the E coli illnesses. This is for us the most plausible cause of the illness."

Many of the restaurants in the outbreak had the sprouts delivered from Uelzen and Lindemann said that not only bean sprouts but also alfalfa, mung bean, radish and rocket from the farm could be connected to the outbreak.

He added that consumers should continue to avoid raw cucumbers, tomatoes and salad leaves, as advised by Germany's main health body, the Robert Koch Institute.

The bacterium has so far infected people in 12 countries. All of them had been travelling in northern Germany. It has killed 21 Germans and one Swede. Many of those infected have developed haemolytic uraemic syndrome (HUS), a potentially deadly complication attacking the kidneys.

Spanish farmers say they have lost €200m (£178m) in sales a week. The crisis threatens to put 70,000 people out of work in Spain, which already has the highest unemployment in the EU.

Bahr said health facilities in Hamburg were struggling to cope with the flood of victims. Germany's second city is the centre of the outbreak.

Hospital authorities said blood supplies were running low and staff were exhausted and working round the clock, with the northern cities of Hamburg and Bremen the worst affected. "They [the doctors] voluntarily come in on weekends and even sleep here," Oliver Grieve, a spokesman for the Kiel University hospital in northern Germany, told Spiegel Online.

Hamburg's health minister, Cornelia Prüfer-Storcks, told a news conference the city was considering bringing doctors out of retirement. "We want to discuss with doctors about whether those who recently retired can be reactivated," she said.

Patients with less serious illnesses are being moved to nearby hospitals and operations for non-threatening diseases are being postponed.

Amraam escreveu:Aqui os novos olhos de "Castela".Agora nós ja poderemos espiar com total impunidade as praias do Algarve assim como as lindas mulheres dos vossos paises e controlar melhor os movimentos do senhor Papatango...

O imperio contra-ataca!!

PAZ, el nuevo satélite de las Fuerzas Armadas españolas



España será el primer país europeo que cuente con un sistema de satélites dual (de radar y óptico) para observar la Tierra desde el espacio con una gran resolución. El primer paso ya se ha dado hoy, con la presentación del satélite PAZ, un ingenio cuyo potente radar será capaz de ver con una resolución de un metro cuadrado y que dará 15 vueltas diarias al planeta.

Algunos ya lo han bautizado como 'el murciélago' por su capacidad para 'ver' de noche o aunque el cielo esté cubierto de nubes, algo imposible con los satélites ópticos. El PAZ tiene como principal objetivo cubrir las necesidades de observación de las Fuerzas Armadas, tanto en tareas de vigilancia de las fronteras como en la lucha contra la piratería marítima. Así lo ha destacado en el acto que ha tenido lugar esta mañana la ministra de Defensa, Carme Chacón, quien comentaba que hoy los piratas del Índico desactivan los sistemas de posicionamiento que llevan los buques. "Pero PAZ buscará desde el espacio el barco secuestrado y otros que estén cerca podrán intervenir", ha señalado.

Roberto López,consejero delegado de HISDESAT, la empresa que ha desarrollado la tecnología del satélite, apuntó que la inversión total ha sido de 160 millones de euros, si bien se espera un retorno de 70 millones y la creación de 450 puestos de trabajo durante los cinco años y medio que esté en activo.

El PAZ será puesto en órbita a finales de 2012 desde Baikonur. Se situará a una altura de 514 kilómetros, con un recorrido que pasa por ambos polos, de forma que hace un barrido total del planeta tomando imágenes por radar que enviará a dos estaciones de seguimiento de INTA, una en Torrejón de Ardoz y otra en Maspalomas. Se estima que enviará un centenar de imágenes diarias.

Además de su utilidad para las Fuerzas Armadas, que lo utilizarán para conseguir información estratégica, control de las fronteras y misiones de salvamento, también podrá ser utilizado en la detección de contaminantes, como derraems de petroleros, o para conseguir una cartografía de alta resolución.

http://www.elmundo.es/elmundo/2011/06/0 ... 46715.html

P44 escreveu:

E coli outbreak 'trail' leads to German bean sprouts, authorities say

Germans still being warned off cucumber and tomatoes as suspicion falls on farm south of Hamburg




* Peter Walker, Abby D'Arcy Hughes in Berlin, Adam Gabbatt and agencies
* guardian.co.uk, Monday 6 June 2011 14.39 BST

German officials are waiting for laboratory tests that are expected to confirm a deadly outbreak of E coli was caused by bean sprouts grown near Hamburg.

The news that the deaths of 22 people were more than likely caused by German-grown organic produce has caused outrage in Spain, which has seen a slump in demand for its vegetables after Spanish-grown cucumbers were initially blamed by Germany.

The EU is to hold an emergency meeting to consider ways to compensate Spanish farmers for their losses. "There has been a drop in consumption around Europe," said European commission spokesman Roger Waite. "It has taken on a European-wide crisis impact so we really need to have a European-wide solution."

The aggressive strain of the E coli bacterium has so far killed 22 people, made more than 2,200 ill and prompted Russia to bar EU fruit and vegetable imports.

The sprouts are believed to have come from the organic Gärtenhof farm in the village of Steddorf, near the small town of Bienenbüttel in the Uelzen district of Lower Saxony, 40 miles south of Hamburg.

Klaus Verbeck, who runs the farm, told a German newspaper that he could not understand how the outbreak could have come from the sprouts, saying there were no animals or animal products on the site. "The salad sprouts are grown only from seeds and water, and they aren't fertilised at all," he told the Neue Osnabruecker Zeitung. "There aren't any animal fertilisers used in other areas on the farm either."

A separate statement on the farm's website said the owners were "shocked and concerned" by the news, and that they had sampled for E coli in January and May. Both tests had been negative.

The farm has informed all customers and withdrawn its goods.

While bean sprouts are seen as a healthy food, they have been linked to a series of previous E coli and salmonella outbreaks. US experts have warned for over a decade that young children, the elderly and those with weakened immune systems should not consume them raw, advice now mirrored by the UK's Food Standards Agency.

The sprouts are grown in water heated to about 38C, ideal conditions for bacteria to flourish.

Hugh Pennington, emeritus professor of bacteriology at Aberdeen University, who has led official inquiries into two UK E coli outbreaks, said he expected the source to be the beans used to grow the sprouts. "You can't rule out the possibility that it was subsequent contamination [on the Gärtenhof farm] but my guess is that, from seeing the cases we've had over the years, that whatever happened on the farm was almost irrelevant. It was really where they were getting their beans from and where the beans had been grown."

German ministers have said they expect the results of tests soon. "While we have strong and clear indications that a farm in [the] Uelzen [district of Lower Saxony] is involved, we have to wait for the official lab results," said the health minister, Daniel Bahr.

The health scare has strained ties between Germany and Spain and led the Russian prime minister, Vladimir Putin, to say he would not "poison" Russians by lifting an embargo on EU fruit and vegetable imports.

Lower Saxony's agriculture minister, Gert Lindemann, said it was possible the contaminated produce had found its way into a variety of foods but there was a "clear trail" to the farm. "It is the most convincing ... source for the E coli illnesses. This is for us the most plausible cause of the illness."

Many of the restaurants in the outbreak had the sprouts delivered from Uelzen and Lindemann said that not only bean sprouts but also alfalfa, mung bean, radish and rocket from the farm could be connected to the outbreak.

He added that consumers should continue to avoid raw cucumbers, tomatoes and salad leaves, as advised by Germany's main health body, the Robert Koch Institute.

The bacterium has so far infected people in 12 countries. All of them had been travelling in northern Germany. It has killed 21 Germans and one Swede. Many of those infected have developed haemolytic uraemic syndrome (HUS), a potentially deadly complication attacking the kidneys.

Spanish farmers say they have lost €200m (£178m) in sales a week. The crisis threatens to put 70,000 people out of work in Spain, which already has the highest unemployment in the EU.

Bahr said health facilities in Hamburg were struggling to cope with the flood of victims. Germany's second city is the centre of the outbreak.

Hospital authorities said blood supplies were running low and staff were exhausted and working round the clock, with the northern cities of Hamburg and Bremen the worst affected. "They [the doctors] voluntarily come in on weekends and even sleep here," Oliver Grieve, a spokesman for the Kiel University hospital in northern Germany, told Spiegel Online.

Hamburg's health minister, Cornelia Prüfer-Storcks, told a news conference the city was considering bringing doctors out of retirement. "We want to discuss with doctors about whether those who recently retired can be reactivated," she said.

Patients with less serious illnesses are being moved to nearby hospitals and operations for non-threatening diseases are being postponed.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/ju ... an-sprouts

cabeça de martelo escreveu:AMRAAM lamento, mas se é para veres as mulheres no Algarve, vais ver muita inglesa, alemã, norueguesa,... ah, e também algumas portuguesas.

manuel.liste escreveu:http://www.abc.es/20110607/medios-redes ... 61748.html

El misterioso caza que escoltó a un avión de Vueling

tflash escreveu:E esses rebentos não virão de um país começado por "C" onde não dizem os "L"?

Deviam obrigar o responsável por este boato a comer pepinos espanhóis, todos os dias da vida dele.

O nome dele era Isidoro. Todo mundo sabia quem era, mas ninguém sabia como era. Secretario-geral do PSOE (Partido Socialista Operário Espanhol), o mais antigo do pais, fundado por Pablo Iglesias em 1879,era o grande enigma da abertura que viria.

Filho de um vaqueiro da Andaluzia, nascido em 5 de março de 1942, sofria de asma desde os dois anos. No curso secundario, tinha que optar entre Letras e Ciências. A mãe o matriculou em Ciências. Não sabe por que, trocou para Letras e estudou Direito.

Na Faculdade, atuou entre os grupos universitários católicos. Em 1962, conheceu um grupo de colegas socialistas já organizados (são como irmãos até hoje): Afonso Guerra, Guilhermo Galeote e Luis Yanez. Tinham um projeto : assumir o comando do Partido Socialista em Sevilha, depois na Espanha e a partir daí o governo. Vinte anos depois, em 1982, conseguiram.

ISIDORO

Formado, Isidoro montou escritório de advocacia sindical para fazer política na ilegalidade. Em 65 e 66 estudou dois anos na Bélgica, voltou para a luta interna no PSOE e a externa contra Franco. Em 69, assumem o comando do PSOE em Sevilha:

- “Logo percebi que meu discurso tocava as pessoas”.

Em 72, no congresso do PSOE na França, entraram para a direção nacional. Em 74, Isidoro se elegeu secretario-geral, derrotando o velho Rodolpho Lopis, 79 anos, herói da guerra civil. Mudou-se para Madri, sempre clandestino e sempre Isidoro.

Foi lá que o conheci, em 1976, os cabelos bem negros, cheios, caindo sobre o pescoço, a barba cerrada, a boca grande, um discurso forte e 35 anos. Em dezembro de 76, convocou a imprensa e anunciou que o PSOE estava voltando à legalidade depois de 40 anos proibido e na clandestinidade.

FELIPE

Já não era mais Isidoro. Era Felipe, Felipe Gonzalez. Nas eleições de 15 de junho de 77 para a Constituinte, seu partido fez 28,51%% dos votos. O Partido Comunista 9,025%. A Aliança Popular, a direita ex-franquista, 8,19%. Ganhou as eleições a UCD (União do Centro Democrático) de Adolfo Suarez, o chefe do governo(Presidente do governo, como dizem lá) com 34,34%.

Só em 82 Felipe e seu PSOE ganhariam as eleições. Mas aquela Constituinte era uma primeira lição para o mundo. Depois de 41 anos de ditadura, a Espanha entregava o pais à competência, determinação e sabedoria de três jovens : o rei Juan Carlos, 39 anos; o chefe do governo Adolfo Suarez, 45 anos; e Felipe Gonzalez, o líder da oposição, 35 anos.

Os três construíram a nova Espanha. Em 1992, em Madri, ouvi Felipe Gonzalez, então presidente da Espanha, dizer a Fernando Collor, presidente do Brasil:

- “Fernando, governar é resistir”.

AZNAR

A partir de 82, Felipe e seus socialistas ganharam quatro eleições e governaram durante 16 anos. Até que perderam para o Partido Popular de José Maria Aznar, que ficou dois mandatos. E os socialistas voltaram com José Luis Zapatero por 8 anos.

Agora, nas eleições municipais, levaram uma “surra histórica” : 37% contra 27%. Das 13 comunidades autônomas (províncias), perderam em 11 e nas maiores: Madrid, Barcelona, Andaluzia, Sevilha, Galícia. Ganharam Pais Basco e Astúrias.

LIÇÃO

Em 2012 é inevitável outra derrota do PSOE, agora sob o comando do vice do governo Alfredo Rubalcaba ou do secretario-geral do partido José Blanco, que disputarão o comando do PSOE em previas, e o governo contra o secretario do PP Mariano Rajoy.

E mais uma vez a Espanha dá outra lição de democracia ao mundo. O poder longo cansa e perde. Se os problemas econômicos e sociais crescem, é preciso entregar o governo a outros e testar.

*Sebastião Nery

Em 1992, em Madri, ouvi Felipe Gonzalez, então presidente da Espanha