e coli on rivercruise - anyone concerned?

[RosemaryNJ]

We are leaving on Wednesday (June 8) for the GCT Great Rivers cruise on the Aria. We start in Vienna and end up in Amsterdam and then we will spend 4 days in Belgium. It is on Danube, Rhine and Main. We are very concerned about the e coli outbreak. Last June we were on the GCT Nile River Cruise and were not able to eat salads, uncooked veggies and also fruit that was not peelable since we were worried about getting sick. We remained healthy but many who did eat these foods got very sick. We were hoping that this trip we would be able to enjoy our salads and fruit but now with this e coli outbreak, we are worried. Is anyone else concerned about their rivercruise?

[steamboats]

Rosemary,

 

You can´t compare Egypt to Europe. That current outbreak (source is still unknown) is a totally different bacteria than the one causing problems in Egypt.

 

The source of the current outbreak is still unknown. There are some hints leading to Hamburg and the Harbor Birthday in the beginning of May. But they still don´t know whether it´s on any kind of veggies or in undercooked meat or whatever.

 

In Southern Germany we only have a handful of ill people. This is the same in other European countries. Nearly 100% of those people have been visiting Hamburg or vincinity shortly prior to getting sick.

 

Your cruise isn´t even getting close to Hamburg.

 

The best advice anyone can give is wash hands often (forget about Purell and similar stuff, you have to wash it away). And avoid public restrooms. The only way to transfer this kind of bacteria from one person to another is by using the same toilet and not washing your hands.

 

steamboats

[bphman]

May not be true. This is a food borne infection with produce being directly infected with fertilizer contaminated with a super strain of E. coli. Hand washing is beneficial but not to ward off this infection. This is generally recommended for Norovirus. There was some mention that this contamination may have originated in Spain. This has the potential to be a major health risk. Don't eat raw vegetables and unpeeled fruit and you should be fine. I lived in Mexico where eating was a daily adventure. We washed all produce with either chemicals purchased in a pharmacy or even a weak solution of common bleach. There we had to worry about both bacteria and parasites. I survived.

 

The problem with the food chain is that the producers are feeding livestock tons of antibiotics creating these multiresistant bacteria which are becoming killers. This renders antibiotics ineffective. They produce E. coli as well as Salmonella which is shed in the feces and in turn gets into the fertilizers. In some parts of the world, they use "night soil' which I won't explain the source. It is always advised to thoroughly wash all produce which you can control at home but not on vacation. I have faith that the cruiselines will be extra cautious.

[willcodeforfun]

It also sounds like they have now identified the source of the outbreak as German-grown bean sprouts.

[steamboats]

bphman,

 

Washing hands frequently is also recommended in this case.

 

Yep, the current suspect are sprouts. But there´s still no confirmation on that. Tests are running.

 

steamboats

[Excited to go crusing]

Hopefully, by the time you get there, the culprit will be confirmed, enjoy your trip.

[bphman]

You could scrub your hands until they're bleeding and it will have no impact on this particular problem. This is a food borne illness which can only be resolved by proper food handling. As a Board of Health officer, I absolutely promote proper hand washing which will curtail human-to-transmission of several diseases such as Norovirus, hepatitis, Salmonella among others but not this one. The produce itself is the contaminated by resistant bacteria and has to be addressed directly. The implicated German sprouts have been cleared so the search for the culprit continues. I would avoid raw or unpeeled produce.

[steamboats]

bphman,

 

Although it´s food borne it still can be transferred from one person to another one in case the infected person hasn´t washed its hands properly after using the restroom.

 

BTW first tests of the sprouts didn´t show any positive results. But they´re still testing.

 

steamboats

[Redtravel]

Not concerned. E-coli can happen anywhere. If you are concerned stay home...or just eat well cooked food. Stay away from fresh uncooked fruit and vegies. I was in Germany when the e-coli stuff happened on a riverboat...no problems. Relax.

[bphman]

Believe what you want. Not worth any further discussion.

[steamboats]

Maybe you believe what´s written on Wikipedia:

 

Epidemiology of gastrointestinal infection

Transmission of pathogenic E. coli often occurs via faecal-oral transmission.[27][37][38] Common routes of transmission include: unhygienic food preparation,[37] farm contamination due to manure fertilization,[39] irrigation of crops with contaminated greywater or raw sewage,[40] feral pigs on cropland,[41] or direct consumption of sewage-contaminated water.[42] Dairy and beef cattle are primary reservoirs of E. coli O157:H7,[43] and they can carry it asymptomatically and shed it in their faeces.[43] Food products associated with E. coli outbreaks include cucumber,[44] raw ground beef,[45] raw seed sprouts or spinach,[39] raw milk, unpasteurized juice, unpasteurized cheese and foods contaminated by infected food workers via faecal-oral route.[37]

According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the faecal-oral cycle of transmission can be disrupted by cooking food properly, preventing cross-contamination, instituting barriers such as gloves for food workers, instituting health care policies so food industry employees seek treatment when they are ill, pasteurization of juice or dairy products and proper hand washing requirements.[37]

Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC), specifically serotype O157:H7, have also been transmitted by flies,[46][47][48] as well as direct contact with farm animals,[49][50] petting zoo animals,[51] and airborne particles found in animal-rearing environments.[52]

[RachelG]

Not concerned at all. There was an outbreak of E coli here in Tulsa this week. Not sure of the source here either, but appears to be related to a day care center.

Really if veggies are washed properly, this should not be a problem. E coli is pretty common. You just hear about it when there is a large outbreak, usually due to contaminated food or groundwater. There was a large outbreak in Oklahoma a couple of years ago due to sewage from the septic system seeping into well water that was used at a restaurant.

[orchestrapal]

Believe what you want. Not worth any further discussion.

 

Ditto!

 

Remember Spinach in the US..:rolleyes: