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EU E.coli does not threaten the U.S. food supply

Officials from the USDA, the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control updated reporters on the E.coli outbreak in Europe on Friday. David Elder with the FDA stressed this has not affected the U.S. and “the U.S. food supply is not in danger.” Elder noted the U.S. receives very little fresh produce from the E.U. especially at this time of year. He says they are screening any produce coming from Germany and Spain.

AUDIO: Elder’s comments 2:54 mp3

David Goldman with the U.S. Department of Agriculture says “at this time it does not appear that any USDA-regulated products are implicated in this particular food safety outbreak.” That includes meat, poultry and processed egg products produced domestically and imported into the U.S.

AUDIO: Goldman’s comments :58 mp3

Dr. Chris Braden with the Centers for Disease Control says there are four Americans who are suspected of being infected; all four had been in Hamburg, Germany in May. They became ill upon return to the United States. He says they do expect to see more cases in people who had traveled to Germany but stressed the risk of human-to-human transfer of the disease is minimal. The CDC has also been in communication with the Department of Defense regarding U.S. military personnel in Germany.

AUDIO: Braden’s comments 3:40 mp3

This strain of E.coli appears to have a longer-than-usual incubation period, Braden says while rare, the CDC did work with a similar strain in the Republic of Georgia in 2009 and there are reports of a variant in South Korea in 2006.

German officials are still trying to determine the source of the contamination; so far they have narrowed it down to cucumbers, lettuce and tomatoes from Spain and Germany consumed in northern Germany. However, that is not to say all three are culprits in the contamination or to imply that other sources may be identified.

The latest information on the E.coli outbreak is available from the CDC website here: