Eating strawberries to get bleeding fever has been confirmed to be a rumor! Local strawberry merchant sales have been affected

Recently, The Chang'an District of Xi'an has attracted attention due to the emergence of infectious hemorrhagic fever, and there are rumors on the Internet that the spread of the disease is related to the local strawberries contaminated with rats. On December 20, the Beijing News reporter learned that the local agricultural department in Xi'an has debunked rumors, pointing out that strawberries and hemorrhagic fever are not necessarily linked. In addition, relevant experts also said that the probability of hemorrhagic fever due to eating strawberries is very small.

However, the incident had a great impact on local strawberry merchants in Xi'an. Some merchants reported to the Beijing News reporter that in recent days, there has been no business at all, the income has dropped sharply, there have been merchants to call the police, and some local supermarkets have also removed local strawberries.

Strawberries and hemorrhagic fever are not necessarily linked

According to the Xi'an Municipal Center for Disease Control and Prevention, hemorrhagic fever, also known as renal syndrome hemorrhagic fever, is a natural epidemic disease caused by hantavirus and carried and transmitted by rodents. There is a peak incidence every eight to ten years, which can occur all year round, and the clinical manifestations include fever, shock, congestion, bleeding, and acute renal failure. Recognized routes of transmission are animal-borne transmission (contact transmission, respiratory transmission, gastrointestinal transmission), mite-borne transmission, and vertical transmission.

Why does Xi'an have haemorrhagic fever? Many netizens pointed their fingers at the local greenhouse strawberries, believing that the strawberries were contaminated by rats, resulting in people being infected with hemorrhagic fever virus after eating them. The saying was once rumored to be "eating strawberries will cause bleeding fever".

The local agricultural department in Xi'an responded to the media, pointing out that the online rumor that "eating strawberries will get bleeding fever" is a rumor, and there is no necessary connection between strawberries and hemorrhagic fever. The Chang'an District Agricultural Inspection Center has conducted irregular inspections of strawberry producers in the whole district and conducted sampling tests on strawberries to prevent pesticide residues from exceeding the standard. Some experts remind that as long as you avoid contact with rats and the food that rats crawl over, kill rats frequently, pay attention to personal and environmental hygiene, you can prevent hemorrhagic fever through daily measures.

On December 20, some experts in immunology told the Beijing News reporter that if strawberries are indeed contaminated by mice carrying hantavirus, and they are not thoroughly cleaned and eaten directly, it is possible to infect bleeding fever, but this probability is very small, and usually eat strawberries to pay attention to cleaning and disinfection. Food safety expert Yun Wuxin also said that the statement that "eating strawberries will cause bleeding fever" is somewhat far-fetched.

"Strawberry greenhouses can not appear rats", a person who has grown strawberries in Chang'an District of Xi'an told the Beijing News reporter, the general strawberry greenhouse facilities are relatively perfect, rats will not go in, it is unlikely that there will be rats contaminated with strawberries. Secondly, rats do not like to eat strawberries, eat more grains, and there can be no strawberries that have been contaminated with rat feces and urine.

Local strawberry merchants' revenues plummeted

At present, it is the winter greenhouse strawberry market period, according to the Beijing News reporter, due to rumors, some strawberry growers in Xi'an have been affected.

A merchant who runs a strawberry cherry picking garden in the Bailuyuan area of Xi'an told the Beijing News reporter that affected by the rumor, the strawberries it sells are not bought, and no one in the strawberry garden is picking, and the strawberries in this period are rotten in the ground. "It's had a big impact on my business, how can there be rats in the greenhouse."

Another merchant who runs a strawberry picking garden in Xi'an's Chang'an District also told the Beijing News reporter that at present, the strawberry farm has suffered serious losses and its income has plummeted, and there are currently merchants calling the police to deal with it. "In the past, the picking garden could have a turnover of 15,000 yuan a week, and almost a day could earn 2,000-3,000 yuan, but no one came these two days, there was no income, and few people bought the strawberries they picked and sold." The merchant also told the Beijing News reporter that some local supermarkets have removed local strawberries and are no longer sold.

In response to the incident, Yun Wuxin said on its Weibo on December 19 that when some diseases existed, there were always rumors on the Internet to throw the pot to "eat a certain food", and there were also rumors advocating that "eating so-and-so can be prevented". For rumor-mongers, it is just a rumor of "preferring to believe that it has", but for food practitioners who have been thrown into the pot, it may be a disaster.

Will strawberry merchants in beijing be affected? Mr. Liu, a strawberry merchant in Xinfadi, introduced to the Beijing News reporter that the strawberries sold in Beijing mainly come from Shandong, Jiangsu, Northeast Dandong and Beijing Changping, Shunyi and other regions, and there is no strawberry from Xi'an, which has no impact. "Generally, the strawberry greenhouses in the north are reinforced, there is almost no air permeability in the shed, and the overall measures in the shed are properly protected, and there is no case of rats contaminating the strawberries."

Beijing News reporter / Liu Huan

Editor / Zhu Fenglan Zhang Mingxuan