The germany cucumber thing

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Beautifulmess

Beautifulmess

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I just read on google that pigs can get E.Coli and it's called Wet Tail like in hamsters? Is this true and also, would it be wise to not feed them anything thats come out of that country. I know alot of people say oh it won't happen to you, but hey I got swineflu when everyone said it wouldn't happen to me.

I read 3 out of the 4 people who had it the Uk died from it, they caught it in Germany.

I don't want to put my pigs in risk tbh, I know it'll blow over in the next few weeks/months because they'll clear it up but I suffer with anxiety so the best thing for me to do is to avoid spanish and german veg. Lol buying local will probs be expencive (don't get why) but I'm saving the planet at the same time. The only spanish thing I got today at the supermarket was their curly kail?

:red:red
 
i went to germany last week and i was eating in a restaurant and i had a cucumber but luckily i didnt eat it, though i did eat lots of cucumbers in denmark, and now i have a really bad fever and my mum thought it was the cucumber thing at first :o i got the swine flu too
 
it's very likely that the source of the E.Coli outbreak has already been 'consumed' as case numbers are falling. If you don't feel comfortable eating German cucumbers or feeding them to the pigs, then I guess you could always stop buying them until they get the all clear.
 
:) zoe :) said:
i went to germany last week and i was eating in a restaurant and i had a cucumber but luckily i didnt eat it, though i did eat lots of cucumbers in denmark, and now i have a really bad fever and my mum thought it was the cucumber thing at first :o i got the swine flu too
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you're a bit unlucky...
 
Bailey said:
This thread is interesting http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=69223

Buying local stuff can be spensive because they don't have the power to buy in cheap like the evil supermarkets do :(
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Thank you for the link. I am going through some things right now, I just managed to avoid developing a fear of death/murder,

I really can't explain why I'm getting like this but I know I have an anxiety desorder and I'm a worrier so that could be something to do with it. Now thats over I guess my body needs something new to worry over and low and behold the news gave it!
lol
 
I'm sure it will all blow over soon enough :) I'm sure the cucumbers I've bought (the full ones, not sure on 1/2 ones) have a little sticker on them saying the country of origin on them xx
 
i personally think its a bit of a hype and i wouldnt worrie that much about this stuff...
i have continued to eat cucumber and the piggles have eaten it aswell...

its just something that happens and is hyped up by the news... just like mad cow disease...

but as everyone else has said... if your not happy feeding them cucumber just stop feeding them it for a little while..... as far as i know it was only one batch so i would have thought it would be gone by now... :)
x
 
I read that on the website from the other forum, best website I've seen. BBC really do hype it up. I only read things when I need to flood myself to keep myself from being shocked by things. It's how I deal with fears, flooding myself means i can't avoid it and eventually I'll desensitize, it's just shocking that people are dying of it.
 
I'm not giving mine at cucumber atm. I know I'm being over the top but i dont care. There is plenty more they can have other than cucumber so I'm not risking it lol but I'm overly dramatic lol :))x
 
One way around any scares like this is to do what we do - grow your own!

I know for a fact none of our lettuces or tomatoes or cucumbers have e.coli on them, as I know the exact animals their 'fertiliser' (the most likely cause) came from - my horse and my friend's horses!

They also taste a lot nicer, work out incredibly cheaper, and you only have to walk ten seconds if you fancy a munch :)

Failing this, washing with running water is never a bad idea. Just don't do what someone I know did and wash their veg with fairy liquid - I am not joking!
 
Empty greenhouse! That does it, I'm off to get growing. I did it last year not sure why I haven't this year...I'm sensing a trip to the garden centre for seeds etc. Mind you, I still grow my girls fav herbsx)

Hmmm a day in the sun with my girlies munching on the lawn and my sowing their future food nom nom ;)
 
I don't want to sound patronising but just for those who are worried because they are unsure about the biology involved here (obviously if you're a natural worrier it's unlikely to help):

Not all E. coli are bad. E. coli are all around you, (there's tons in your own gut) and it's comparatively rare that a strain becomes virulent and dangerous.

The chief reason that vegetables can become contaminated is if they are grown organically and therefore intentionally sprayed with manure. (E. coli struggles to reproduce below 37oC, so once it's outside of a mammal it doesn't really increase in numbers unless it's in a warm country). So solution one would be: Don't buy organic.

E. coli aren't super armoured bugs! They're very easily washed off, or destroyed with a quick scrub. So solution two would be: Wash your veggies really thoroughly.

But most importantly for the specific topic of this thread:

We've known for several days now that Spanish cucumbers were NOT the source of the German E. coli outbreak. While that could potentially be more worrying (as the source is now unknown) avoiding cucumber is essentially now pointless, as that's not where the strain is coming from.

Hope that that helps put a few minds at rest.
 
And just to add to the 'let's not bash the Spanish veg', my pigs have been eating Spanish celery for the past two weeks and all of them are fine :)

Bailey, this girl is a proper idiot, you know pizza's have that cardboard base under them when you take them out the packet? Well because the box said 'remove from packet and put on oven shelf' she didn't think she needed to take it off...

If you have space for a grow bag you can grow some bits, Mum started with just a 4ft x 2ft box and went from there, I will get some pics of the veggie area for you all! This year we have lettuce (we went a bit far with these and they are everywhere, anyone local want any lettuce?! 3 varieties to choose from!), tommies, cucumbers, potatoes, strawberries (again, loads going here if you want some!), carrots, beans and some herbs - tho the pigs are the parsely before we could split the plants off the little one, whoops.
 
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