Xinfadi salmon, not unfair!

The COVID-19 outbreak in Beijing Xinfadi is gradually fading away, and the salmon has been “vindicated”, and Japanese food in various places has returned to its former bustle. However, recently, the Beijing Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing Preventive Medicine Research Center, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences and other institutions jointly published a paper, and they believe: salmon is not wronged!

Without further ado, let’s get straight to the point.

1. Seafood area, stall S14

There is no doubt that the Xinfadi beef and mutton hall was the epicenter of the outbreak, but where exactly in the hall was it? According to epidemiological investigations, the S14 stall in the seafood area was the most suspected.

All seven employees were infected, and the onset of the disease was relatively early.

Five infected customers were screened, and both IgG and IgM were positive. Their intersection in Xinfadi was stall S14. (IgM indicates that the infection time was relatively early)

These five people went to Xinfadi on May 30/31 and have not been there since then.

The heat map below is more intuitive. The red ball is S14.

2. Europe

Beijing has been calm for two months. The staff at the S14 stall in the seafood area had no contact with COVID-19 patients or close contacts. Where did they get the virus? Viruses mutate quickly and randomly, which means that its evolution and transmission process can be "replayed" based on differences in gene sequences.

Genetic testing has locked onto a characteristic mutation site numbered C12085T. The virus carrying this mutation is likely to be the source of the Xinfadi outbreak. By comparing the viral gene sequences, scientists further believe that the virus is not domestic, but is likely to have come from Europe!

3. Fresh salmon

Stall S14 in the seafood area only has one imported product, which is chilled salmon.

Investigators collected 3,582 sealed packaged salmon samples stored in cold storage (not in Xinfadi) and found that six fish samples were positive, five of which were from the same company, and the virus sequence of one unopened fish sample was highly similar to the virus sequence of the Xinfadi outbreak.

This company is the supplier of booth S14, and the source of the goods is a country with a COVID-19 outbreak. The paper did not reveal which country it was, but the chilled salmon from Europe is most likely from Norway or Denmark.

The stall owner of S14 purchased the goods on May 30 and divided and sold them at the stall on the same day. The earliest infected customer happened to have visited Xinfadi on that day.

Although Beijing has not isolated live viruses from salmon, scientists speculate that the source of the Xinfadi epidemic is chilled salmon. In addition, the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention has recently isolated live viruses from the outer packaging of frozen cod in Qingdao, and the evidence of cold chain transmission is becoming clearer and clearer. Recent studies have also found that under refrigerated and frozen conditions, the infectivity of the new coronavirus on chicken, pork, and salmon can remain undiminished for 21 days...

Can we still buy and eat imported cold chain foods? I currently have the following opinions for your reference.

1. The possibility of infection from cold chain food does exist. Now it seems that this is not just a "theoretical possibility" but has actually happened. Of course, considering the huge consumption frequency in China every day, this probability is really very low.

2. Imported cold chain food may be contaminated by viruses either on the outer packaging or inside the packaging. Even if the customs conducts batch testing, it cannot guarantee 100% safety, because it is impossible to open every package for testing, and there is a possibility that the outside is negative but the inside is positive. Of course, with customs control, the probability of the virus sneaking in will be much lower.

3. Except for fresh sashimi, most imported cold chain foods need to be further processed (heated) before consumption, so paying attention to operating hygiene should further reduce the already very low risk of virus infection. In fact, the main thing is to wash your hands frequently and avoid touching your mouth, nose, and eyes.

4. Facing a very hidden and highly contagious virus, there is no absolute safety. But relatively speaking, the risk to consumers is much smaller than that to cold chain practitioners, and the probability of infection itself is indeed very, very low. Those who cannot accept any risk now may be the local officials responsible for epidemic prevention and control. My own choice is to keep everything as usual, eat and drink as usual. Double 11 is coming soon, and if there is something suitable, you can stock up a little. Of course, if you decide not to buy imported cold chain food, there is no problem. After all, no imported cold chain food is indispensable and irreplaceable.

5. Domestic cold chain foods can be consumed with confidence. Be careful not to buy imported cold chain foods that are too cheap and of unknown origin, as there may be problems with smuggling. This is a hidden danger of epidemic imports that the regulatory authorities are reluctant to talk about and it is difficult to eliminate.

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