近日,北京大型果蔬市场新发地出现了100多个冠状病毒新病例,其董事长表示,病毒的来源是一家贩卖进口三文鱼的店铺所使用的砧板。尽管目前还不清楚病毒是否是通过解冻后的冷冻食品传播的,这还是引发了全国范围内对三文鱼的抵制。目前,三文鱼已经在沃尔玛等大型超市下架,中国各地的生鲜配送平台上也再看不见它们的身影,从云南到上海等省市,都在对当地市场的海鲜进行病毒检测。中国疾病预防控制中心首席流行病专家吴尊友周日表示,这种病毒可以在冷冻食品表面存活长达3个月,他们“高度怀疑”被污染的进口海鲜是这次疫情反扑的来源。国家卫建委高级专家则提醒北京居民暂时不要吃生的三文鱼或购买进口海产品。这场抵制三文鱼的风波冲击到了价值7亿美元的进口三文鱼市场,对丹麦、挪威和澳大利亚等主要出口国造成了巨大打击。根据挪威渔业部长Odd Emil Ingebrigtsen周二发表的声明,中国当局已经与挪威联系,询问是否存在新鲜三文鱼感染冠状病毒的情况。而根据联合国粮食及农业组织的研究人员在4月发表的一份研究报告,冠状病毒是不会感染水生动物或污染其产品的。包括Melba G. Bondad-Reantaso在内的科学家写道:“在适当的食品处理和卫生条件下,感染风险应该可以忽略不计。然而,如果处理产品的人携带病毒,那它们的表面也可能会被污染。”
A fresh outbreak of coronavirus cases in Beijing is being blamed on imported salmon, prompting a nationwide boycott of the fish. Salmon has been taken off the shelves in major supermarkets like Walmart Inc. and deleted from grocery delivery platforms across China, while top experts are warning people not to consume the omega-3 rich fish. Provinces and cities from Yunnan to Shanghai are testing the seafood at local wet markets for the virus. The backlash came after the chairman of a major fruit and vegetable market called Xinfadi, the site of over 100 newly-detected infections in Beijing, said that the virus was traced to the chopping board used by a seller of imported salmon. While it is unclear if the virus can be actually be transmitted through frozen food that’s later thawed, the furore has put a $700 million market for imported salmon at risk, dealing a blow to major exporters like Denmark, Norway and Australia. Chinese authorities have contacted Norway seeking information about infection risk connected to the production of fresh salmon and the Scandinavian country aims to reply as quickly as possible to limit the impact on the industry, Norwegian Fisheries Minister Odd Emil Ingebrigtsen said in a statement on the government’s website Tuesday. In a study published in April, researchers with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations concluded that the coronavirus is not known to infect aquatic food animals or contaminate their products. The risk “should be negligible” with “proper food handling and sanitation,” although their surfaces might potentially become contaminated when handled by people who carry the virus, scientists including Melba G. Bondad-Reantaso wrote. source