Can’t poison our people for ’spirit’

Russian PM Putin retorts after being told he was contradicting 'spirit of WTO' by banning EU veggies

Can't poison our people for 'spirit'

Russianu00a0PM Putin retorts after being told he was contradicting 'spirit of WTO' by banningu00a0EU veggies

Despite complaints from the Europeans, Russia will keep intact its ban on vegetables from the European Union because of the outbreak of a rare strain of E. coli, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said yesterday.

The European Union has told Russia that the ban contradicts the spirit of the World Trade Organisation.
But Putin retorted, "We can't poison our people for the sake of some spirit."

Russian PM Vladimir Putin said he refused to let his citizens get poisoned for the sake of some spirit and would not lift the ban till the situation was under control

The E. coli infection has spread to 10 countries and is blamed for at least 16 deaths and hundreds of illnesses.
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It is also "likely" to be behind the illness of two people in the United States, both of whom had travelled to Germany recently, an official from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.

There have been 499 cases of hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) a form of kidney failure in the current European outbreak, according to the World Health Organization.

Nine patients in Germany have died of HUS, according to WHO figures from earlier in the week.

Six had died of enterohemorrhagic E. coli, EHEC, a strain of E. coli that causes hemorrhaging in the intestines and can result in abdominal cramps and bloody diarrhoea. One person in Sweden hass also died.

Across Europe, 1,115 cases of EHEC have been reported, WHO said on its website.

In addition to Germany and Sweden, cases have been identified in Austria, Denmark, France, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

All but two of the cases occurred in people who had recently visited northern Germany or, in one case, had contact with a visitor from northern Germany, the organisation said.

Russia's ban on fresh vegetable imports was the strictest response to the outbreak.

Putin said that despite the complaints from European officials he would not raise the ban.

Russia would check on the validity of the ban, he said, but not until more facts emerge from the European Union about the outbreak.

16
Number of people who have died owing to E.coli poisoning