NEW HEALTH FEARS OVER DEADLY VIRUS IN SAUSAGES
A SURGE in potentially deadly food poisoning can be traced to Europe, a top doctor revealed yesterday.
Cases of hepatitis E virus – which attacks the liver and in extreme cases can paralyse and kill – are rising, Dr Harry Dalton told a conference in Liverpool.
The gastroenterologist at Royal Cornwall Hospital Trust said the vast majority of cases can be tracked to European pig products such as sausages, hams and salamis.
HEV is particularly dangerous for the elderly, the pregnant and people with suppressed immune systems.
Public Health England said that confirmed or reported cases rose from 368 in 2010 to 1,244 last year.
Its scientists added there was “a trend towards more severe and prolonged illness”. A joint Food Standards Agency and European Food Safety Authority workshop has found that there are up to 100,000 foodborne HEV infections a year in England alone – most of which are not recognised.
It said Public Health England had found that infection was associated with eating processed pork.
Though up to 90 per cent of British pigs may carry the virus Dr Dalton said the human health problem is caused by European meat.
He said the origin of the virus in patients can be traced at a molecular level. And 80 per cent of cases now can be traced back to European pig products.
He said: “I call it the Brexit virus. It attacks the liver and nerves, with a peak in May. It is particularly dangerous for people with suppressed immune systems such as those who have had organ transplants and possibly cancer.”
He added: “Previously patients who had HEV in this country seemed to have got it from British pigs.
“But in the past two to three years something has changed. Now 80 per cent of the viral strain we see in the UK is not from Britain but from Holland, Denmark and Germany.
“Something has gone wrong with the European food chain.”
Dr Dalton, senior lecturer at Exeter University, continued: “We are seeing an increasing number of serious cases including those affecting the nervous system.
“We have seen a major surge in cases in the past two to three years, especially in April and May. There has been a similar increase on the continent, especially in Germany and the Netherlands.” The Food Standards Agency said: “The risk of acquiring HEV from eating thoroughly cooked pork or pork products is low. “We advise that cuts of pork, pork products and offal should be thoroughly cooked until they are steaming hot throughout, the meat is no longer pink and the juices run clear.” The UK National Pig Association said although 92.8 per cent of slaughtered pigs in Britain tested positive for HEV in a 2013 study, only six of the 629 animals had it a level high enough to be infectious to humans who ate raw pigmeat.
It said: “Research at Public Health England has shown that the subgroup of hepatitis E causing the majority of human infection in the UK is not the same as the subgroup found in UK pigs.
“We are aligned with researchers’ conclusion that if people in Britain have contracted hepatitis E from eating pork, it is likely to have come from imported pork.”