Cholera Outbreak Imperils Food Imports : Epidemic: Peru is hardest hit but Ecuador, one of the leading shrimp producers, is also affected.

A cholera epidemic of what some are calling “biblical proportions” has cast doubt on the safety of seafood and produce being exported from several South American countries.

Federal health officials concede that, as the outbreak worsens, it will become increasingly difficult to monitor all food imports from afflicted regions for the potentially fatal bacteria. At least one consumer advocacy group says that the disease-ridden areas should be declared a “disaster zone” and that a food embargo may eventually be necessary.

Peru, hardest hit by the crisis, has experienced about 150,000 cholera cases and 1,045 deaths in the past nine weeks, according to official estimates. Ecuador and Colombia are also affected by the outbreak although the total number of cases in those two countries is less than 3,500.

International health officials state that the epidemic is spreading and new cases were reported in Brazil and Chile. Three Americans recently returned from Peru and Ecuador have also been diagnosed as having cholera, the first such instances in this country linked to the present South American outbreak.

The infection, concentrated along coastal areas, is being caused by a combination of inadequate sewage systems, contaminated water supplies and consumption of raw or undercooked foods, particularly seafood.

Cholera, which can infect otherwise healthy individuals, may cause severe diarrhea and vomiting leading to dehydration and, potentially, death from kidney failure or shock.

Historically, imported foods are more likely than domestically produced commodities to have problems with microbiological contamination or illegal pesticide residues, according to government laboratory analyses. The recent problems in South America underscore some of the reasons for the recurring import violations.

The Peruvian Embassy in Washington reports that the nation exports fresh and frozen seafood, avocados, mangoes, asparagus, green beans, juice concentrate and canned foods to the United States. Ecuadorean officials state that the nation’s major food exports are shrimp, fin fish such as tuna, bananas and other fresh produce items.

In a recent speech, a top U.S. Food and Drug Administration official described the situation in South America as a “public health disaster.”

Douglas Archer, deputy director of the FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, said that 100% of Peru’s food exports to this country are being tested for the presence of cholera. No contaminated food has been found.

However, since the bacteria have spread to other countries with even larger food industries, the FDA will be hard-pressed to test anywhere near all such exports to the United States.

A consumer advocate who has been following the issue of international food trade was critical of only random sampling for cholera.

“That’s not sufficient,” said Rod Leonard, executive director of the Community Nutrition Institute in Washington. “We can’t afford to let the U.S. consumer pay for the lack of adequate health and sanitary facilities in Latin America or other developing countries.”

Leonard said that if the cholera epidemic continues to worsen, it “may reach the point where it will require a trade embargo” on all foods from those areas.

The spread of the cholera epidemic to Ecuador is of particular concern because that nation is one of the world’s leading producers of farm-raised shrimp, trailing only China, Thailand and Indonesia. Ecuador produced 74,000 metric tons of the popular crustacean in 1990, most of which was shipped to the United States, according to Bob Rosenberry, an industry analyst who publishes a San Diego-based aquaculture newsletter.

“People in the seafood industry who are working with Ecuadorean-raised shrimp are nervous, sure,” said Rosenberry.

All Ecuadorean shrimp sold in this country are frozen. But freezing the crustacean may not be totally effective in killing the cholera bacteria.

According to the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, freezing below minus 4 degrees Fahrenheit will reduce, but may not completely eliminate, cholera organisms from food.

A U.S.-based importer who requested anonymity said that all Ecuadorean shipments of shrimp are being tested for cholera before leaving that nation. None showed any signs of the bacteria to date. The product is also rinsed with chlorine to prevent bacterial growth during processing, he said.

An FDA official said that the agency immediately expanded its testing of South American shrimp when it learned of the cholera epidemic. Normally, the shrimp is only analyzed for the presence of Salmonella.

Even so, the situation in South America prompted the FDA to meet last week with Ecuadorean shrimp processors, seafood importers and embassy officials to discuss the epidemic’s health implications. The CDC has also issued guidelines for handling foods that may contain the particular bacteria strain causing the illnesses: Vibrio cholera.

“Because all three countries (Peru, Ecuador and Colombia) export food, there has been concern that food from these countries might infect consumers,” the CDC report stated. “Most imported foods, even if contaminated with (cholera) at the point of origin, pose minimal risk to the consumer.”

Yet the CDC acknowledges that “a small number of U.S. residents may acquire the disease during travel or by eating imported food.”

CDC went on to state that there have been cholera cases in the United States attributed to consumption of raw oysters from the Gulf of Mexico, which has nowhere near the contamination problem currently plaguing South America.

According to the CDC, sporadic cases of cholera that have occurred in the United States since 1973 have been associated with consumption of seafood from the Gulf Coast. The disease was unknown in this country between 1940 and 1970; Between 1971 and 1989, 89 cases of cholera were reported to the CDC.

(California health officials recently ordered all retail outlets selling Gulf of Mexico oysters to post warning signs stating that “eating raw oysters may cause severe illness and even death in persons who have liver disease, cancer or other chronic illnesses that weaken the immune system.” The bacteria that prompted the warning-- Vibrio vulnificus --is related to V. cholera. )

Consumer groups have been calling for a vastly expanded government inspection program for seafood, particularly imports. Some advocates have said they will use the current South American cholera epidemic to press Congress to enact legislation that will authorize a more comprehensive surveillance program for fish and shellfish than currently exists.

Representatives of the Peruvian and Ecuadorean embassies in Washington said that the FDA is conducting the laboratory sampling of food imports for cholera. No contamination has been found to date, they stated.

All processed and packaged food imports sold in the United States indicate country of origin. However, fresh foods such as produce or seafood rarely are labeled. So, consumers will have some difficulty determining what items may be from the cholera zone.

The CDC issued several precautions that will protect consumers from foods potentially contaminated with cholera bacterium. They are:

* Cholera can be eliminated through cooking to an internal or core temperature of 170 degrees.

* Prevent cross-contamination of cooked foods with raw foods.

* Peel fruit and vegetables, if possible. Bananas constitute the bulk of produce shipped from the cholera zone. The FDA said the fruit is “not a concern” because this particular bacteria could not survive the long transit times involved as well as the fact that bananas are always peeled before eating.

* Dried, acidic or pickled foods, if properly processed, are unlikely to cause infection.

* Canned foods, if manufactured according to international guidelines, are free of cholera “even if the raw product was contaminated.”