Chicken

Covid-19: Brazilian chicken with traces of the virus

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Traces of Covid-19 have been found in China in frozen chicken wings imported from Brazil, but also in shrimp packaging from Ecuador. A question arises: can we be contaminated by the consumption of certain foods?


The coronavirus has spread across most of the planet for several months and continues to circulate. Although it is transmitted mainly through droplets of saliva, traces of the virus have been detected in sewage, the semen of some recovered patients, feces but also in food. Chinese authorities announced on August 13 that they had discovered the presence of Covid-19 in samples of frozen chickens during a routine check. The chicken wings in question come from Brazil, the world's largest producer of this bird.

The virus has been detected in Brazilian chicken and Ecuadorian shrimp

The Chinese authorities have certified that they have tested all people who may have been in contact with the infected products and their families. They also tested food stored near contaminated chicken wings. According to a statement from the city hall of the Shenzhen metropolis, at the gates of Hong Kong, all the tests were negative.

This is not the first time that traces of the coronavirus have been identified in food in China. The Wuhu City Council in Anhui province also announced that it had found the virus in packages of Ecuadorian shrimp. The products were stored in the freezer of a restaurant in Wuhu. This is the second time since July that Chinese authorities have discovered traces of Covid-19 in packages of shrimp imported from Ecuador.

Coronavirus: can you get infected by eating food?

"There is currently no evidence that people can contract Covid-19 from food or food packaging. Covid-19 is a respiratory disease and the main route of transmission is person-to-person contact and direct contact with the droplets. respiratory infections that are generated when an infected person coughs or sneezes, "said the World Health Organization (WHO) on May 15. The authority specifies that it is not necessary to disinfect food packaging. However, it recommends washing hands well after handling food packages.

The Medicines Agency (ANSES) stressed last March that a potential transmission of the virus by "a food necessarily implies the contamination of this food by a patient or a person infected by the virus, during its handling or preparation of the food" . That is why it is important to adopt good hygiene practices to avoid contamination of food products by the virus. Although direct digestive contamination of the virus is excluded, it is specified that "the possibility of infection of the respiratory tract during chewing" cannot be completely ruled out.

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