E-coli and Spanish Cucumbers

This Associated Press photograph shows cucumbers being dumped in a skip

The whole situation in Germany, where imported Spanish cucumbers were initially blamed for the outbreak of a deadly new strain of E-coli, is horrendous. At the time of writing this, 18 people have died and thousands have been afflicted with a horrible disease that causes one to pass bloody diarrhoea and which, in a massive 25% of cases, causes kidney failure.

After a few days, it became obvious that Spain wasn't to blame after all. The E-coli bacteria that had been found on a couple of cucumbers were of a different strain to the ones affecting people.

Meanwhile, practically all Spanish cucumbers are being picked and destroyed.

They have to pick them, even although they know that it is a waste of time; they are being picked to be dumped. Each farm must keep a detailed record of what produce they destroy if they are to have any hope of reclaiming their expenses from the European Community Fund.

It is not just cucumbers of course, all Spanish horticultural produce is going to waste. 90% of what Spain grows is for export. Tomatoes, lettuce, all sorts of salad vegetables have suddenly lost their export potential.

In the whole of Europe, everyone is wary of raw salad vegetables. There remains an air of uncertainty, because the source of this ghastly outbreak of E-coli has not yet been identified, and perhaps never will be.

So it is not only Spain that is suffering. ALL countries within Europe who produce fresh salad vegetables are finding sales drying up as consumers shrink away.

Russia, one of Europe's main importers, has gone so far as to place a BAN on all vegetable imports from Europe. This is a massive blow for growers, and of course this doesn't just affect the growers, it has a knock-on effect against the transporters and market handlers.

Spanish growers alone believe they are losing in the region of €200 MILLION a week through this crisis, and figure may rise until a definitive cause is found.

This is a tremendous blow to Spain, a country with the highest youth unemployment in Europe of 45%, and with an overall unemployment rate of a massive 19.6%. A country which is already in deep recession but had hopes of climbing out of.

Call me pessimistic, but am I the only one who thinks the German E-coli outbreak may have been a deliberate terrorism plot?

I mean, think about it, this is a brand new strain of E-coli. It takes the worst traits of two known strains and combines them. It (unusually) affect adults instead of young children. It affects more women than men. It affects young women. It causes death in high numbers.

I can't help think it has been developed in a laboratory and then maliciously released.

Otherwise, wouldn't they have found by now where it started?

UPDATE: it would seem the outbreak started in an organic farm in Germany, growing beansprouts.