E. Coli Link Is Found in Cattle Feces

[mzteris]

(does this come as any surprise?)

E. Coli Link Is Found in Cattle Feces
A genetic match to the strain responsible for three recent deaths is discovered near one of the farms suspected of growing tainted spinach.
By Rong-Gong Lin II and Marla Cone, Times Staff Writers
October 13, 2006


State and federal officials probing the recent E. coli outbreak linked to spinach said Thursday that they have found the genetic match of the bacterium in cattle feces near a farm suspected of supplying the tainted greens.

. . . We do not have a smoking 'cow' at this point," said Kevin Reilly, deputy director for prevention services at the California Department of Health Services.

But, he said, at the farm neighboring the cattle pasture where the strain was isolated, "the fields are surrounded, frankly, by pastures where livestock are kept."

The spinach farm's operator leases its land from the cattle ranch owner, and the two operations are separated by a paved road and fences.

The fecal samples that matched the E. coli strain in the outbreak were found in a pasture about half a mile to a mile from the spinach field.

. . . The state Department of Food and Agriculture has no regulations regarding the distance between cattle and fresh produce operations, said spokesman Steve Lyle.

Having a field of spinach neighboring a cattle range does violate "good agricultural practices," a voluntary set of national guidelines on food safety practices, said Alejandro Castillo, an associate professor of food microbiology at Texas A&M University. . .


http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/california/la-me-spinach13oct13,1,3885375.story?coll=la-headlines-pe-california



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NY TIMES ARTICLE
Source of Deadly E. Coli found....
CHICAGO, Oct. 12 — Cattle manure collected from a California ranch under investigation by federal and state authorities contains the same strain of E. coli that killed three people and sickened nearly 200 in a recent outbreak linked to tainted spinach, federal and state food safety officials said Thursday.

“We know where the E. coli comes from,” said Dr. Kevin Reilly of the California Department of Health Services.

But while the discovery of the match between E. coli in the manure and in the tainted spinach is an unprecedented development in the scientific investigation of food-borne illnesses, Dr. Reilly said, it does not solve the mystery of how the spinach was contaminated in the first place.

“We are continuing to try to determine the connection between these findings and how spinach on the fields may have been contaminated,” Dr. Reilly said in a news conference.


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ooops - sorry - you have to LOG IN to read this - I went back and found another article to link to - but this one is at the NYT...