mr president hearsay can be dangerous
did this outbreak start in germany or some other member state
rumours can be destructive and can even help spread an outbreak
there are still many unanswered questions surrounding this outbreak
the only sure thing is that most member states have reported cases of the bacteria
to date we have twenty-two deaths in the eu
this outbreak demonstrates the importance of cross-border cooperation in the field of preventive health
it also brings into play the importance of having a european agency such as the european centre for disease prevention and control ecdc to monitor collaborate and inform the member states
we are relatively lucky in the uk to have had only three reported cases but that is today tomorrow things could change and we must be vigilant
in addition to finding the cause of the outbreak we need to keep the public informed and therefore protected
ecdc is publishing daily updates
through cooperation we can control this outbreak
if our citizens are informed they stand a better chance of avoiding infection
above all we need to be calm and measured in our response
