E. coli Blog - Surveillance & analysis on e. coli news & outbreaks

Diane Edwards Anger of Ripley shares in her letter to the Ontario Farmer editor that her experience with raw milk differs from those of raw-milk advocates.

She tells of how when she was pregnant with her first child in the 1970s, that her husband brought her some raw milk from the farm on which he worked. At the time, she was 7 months pregnant.

Unfortunately, she became very ill from the raw milk and lost 30 pounds. Her son was born with respiratory health problems, and had further problems well into adulthood, although a decisive link between the problems and the raw milk has not been confirmed.

Anger warns against anyone drinking raw milk, and warns against those who are looking to "get back to nature" for their food consumption. She believes that the modernized methods are there for human safety, and has chosen to drink only pasteurized milk as a result.

Ed Savage, former Chief of Police in Sweet Home, shared his story with the Woodburn Independent as to the history of legal, regulated commercial sales of raw milk in the Woodburn area in the past.

He shared his personal story of his stepfather, who owned a dairy farm that Ed worked on as a child. He helped on the farm through milking, sterilizing, and bottling of legal raw milk, and helped distribute it to neighborhood families.

He also discussed the processes required to keep the operation clean - from constant testing, to sterilization, to mechanical equipment to prevent human contact with the milk.

Ed isn't against raw milk, since he enjoyed it so much growing up. But he does say that he is "against an outfit that tries to evade the laws and regulations designed to keep raw milk safe for human consumption."

Life-threatening illnesses associated with swimming pools are rare, but less serious illnesses are not. During the past 10 years, at least 15,000 people have become ill from swimming, according to the U.S. government's Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Most of these illnesses were diarrheal, which were spread when people accidentally swallowed pool water that had been contaminated with fecal matter, which can happen more often in community and public pools and in areas where children may be that may have "accidents".

Illnesses can also be spread in other settings in which people share water, such as hot tubs, spas and water park attractions. Several recent disease outbreaks have been traced to contaminated water in the fountain-style attractions that small children play in at water parks.

Chlorine unfortunately does not kill all bacteria. The CDC has suggestions on how to reduce contamination and infection:

• Don't swim when you have diarrhea.
• Don't swallow pool water.
• Wash your hands with soap and water after using the toilet or changing diapers.
• Take your children on bathroom breaks often.
• Change diapers in a bathroom and not at poolside.
• Wash your child thoroughly (especially the rear end) with soap and water before swimming.
• Check to make sure that a pool you visit is properly maintained.

Linden Elementary School has told its students and employees to avoid using the school's water after E. coli bacteria showed up in a routine water test, but it may have been a false alarm.

The Intelligencer reports that the school provided bottled water and hand sanitizer in every classroom after turning off all drinking fountains and faucets.

The Doylestown Water Department and the Bucks County Health Department tested water at the school and nearby properties, bhere was no sign of E. coli in any of the five wells the borough uses to draw water that's sent to customers.

Officials believe a possible testing malfunction may have indicated the presence of bacteria, since no water tests done in the past by the borough's water department have detected E. coli.

In a letter sent home to parents, Linden principal Alan J. Bernabei said he expected the problem would be resolved when results of follow-up water tests will be made available.

Investigators were recently was awarded a grant of more than $500,000 from the United States Department of Agriculture to study an integrated approach to pre-harvest control of toxin-producing E. coli, according to the Nevada News.

Currently, the beef industry has used post-harvest methods to "clean" beef, such as washing or sterilizing the meat after production.

Hussein S. Hussein, professor of veterinary medicine at the University of Nevada, Reno's College of Agriculture, Biotechnology and Natural Resources, is working on a method to "clean" an animal prior to harvesting, and believes that microbial hazards associated with pre-harvest phases of beef production can be manipulated by diet.

"We plan on playing with the diet of the animal, so that we can in a sense 'clean' the animal before slaughter," says Hussein.

The two-year study will look into mixing a variety of known forages and grains in the diet of the participating animals.

The parents of Abigail Hayse, 6, and her brother, Bryce, 3, have filed a lawsuit in the Hillsborough Circuit Court against AgVenture Farm Shows and the Florida State Fair.

The lawsuit, the Tribune says, claims that the children caught a near-fatal strain of E. coli from petting animals at the Fair, and that Agventure and the Florida State Fair Authority failed to exercise reasonable care to protect Abigail and Bryce, avoid exposing them to E. coli and give adequate warnings about potential dangers.

26 people contracted E. coli from Agventure petting zoos at the Central Florida Fair in Orlando, the Strawberry Festival in Plant City and the State Fair in Tampa.

The Hayses' lawsuit requests damages in excess of $15,000. Thus far, the children's medical bills have cost about $25,000.

An editorial posted on the Daily News website supports two bills proposed by senators to strengthen state regulatory authority over the distribution of raw milk.

In addition to expanding the Washington Department of Agriculture's authority to investigate dairies and regulate sales of raw milk, the measure provides stiff penalties for health violations. The state could shut-down dairies that fail to meet sanitation standards and possibly file criminal charges against the owners.

Although raw-milk advocates feel as though the proposed bills are too stringent for small dairy owners, the editorial disagrees. They feel that the health risks associated with drinking raw milk demand strict regulation and serious penalties for those who would skirt that regulation. The bills give the state the tools it needs to make sure these dairies meet necessary health standards and deal with those that do not.

An article in The Columbian reports that the bills proposed in both the House and Senate would prohibit unlicensed dairies from distributing unpasteurized milk by selling shares in a milk cow, goat or sheep in return for a portion of the milk produced.

The bills would also give state inspectors access to unlicensed dairies suspected of selling raw milk illegally and authorize them to collect milk samples and obtain customer lists. It would make selling raw milk without a license a Class C felony.

Neither bill would ban the sale of raw milk, although 21 states do.

The bills were proposed after raw milk from an unlicensed dairy infected 18 people with E. coli.

Living Springs Ranch owner Dan West had been selling raw milk at the GreenMarket in St Louis, which in the winter is open the first and third Saturday of the month.

However, West has been told by the St. Louis Department of Health that selling raw milk is not only a violation of a city ordinance but against state law, according to the River Front Times.

Missouri state law allows raw milk to be sold on a farm, but not at a market away from a farm. The law further stipulates that a farm selling raw milk first has to be inspected, and that farmers must obtain a state permit to merchandise the milk.

West has worked out a compromise with the city health department that now gives him entry to GreenMarket as a pick-up point for customers who have prepaid for their milk, although most of his customers now simply buy milk from him outside the city health department's jurisdiction at Maplewood Farmer's Market.

State investigators have conclusively linked Woodland's Dee Creek Farm to the December E. coli outbreak that sickened 18 people, according to the Daily News.

Investigators found E. coli bacteria in seven of the 57 samples taken at the unlicensed dairy, both in the unpasteurized, or raw milk, and in the mud and muck in and around the barn. Labs were then able to genetically match the samples to E. coli found in the 18 infected patients, who all drank Dee Creek milk.

In addition to the E. coli tests, investigators found numerous health and safety violations -- several of which could lead to immediate closure if discovered at a licensed dairy.

Amongst the violations at the farm:

• No water or wastewater systems or hand-washing areas in the barn.
• Cows walked through 12 inches of mud and manure to enter the barn.
• The milking area floor was not concrete, as required, and had mud and manure present during milking.
• The same towel used to clean a cow's udder was then used to wipe the lip of the milking machine.
• Milking equipment came in contact with cows' muddy legs during milking.
• Chickens covered in mud and manure flew overhead during milking.
• Collected milk was transported in a dirty, hay filled car with one container covered only with a piece of plastic wrap.
• The milk was bottled in the family kitchen, not the required separate facility.
• No documentation of tests for brucellosis and tuberculosis.
• The farm's beef cattle have contact with a wild elk herd.

The state Department of Agriculture will detail the investigation of a December E. coli outbreak that sickened 18 people, including five children who were hospitalized, in its E. coli report on Woodland's Dee Creek Farm today.

The report will include laboratory analysis of samples of milk from the unlicensed diary, says the Longview Daily News.

The outbreak has resulted in warnings to the public about the risks of raw, unpasteurized milk, by local, state, and federal health agencies. It has also resulted in two bills to close a loophole in the sale of raw milk, by enforcing that dairies that participate in cow-share programs must be licensed and inspected.

According to the Washington State Department of Agriculture, Dee Creek Farm's violation of basic safety and sanitation standards directly contributed to the E. coli outbreak that came from the raw milk supplied by the farm.

"We've conclusively linked Dee Creek Farm's raw milk with the E. coli 0157 H7 outbreak that occurred in the Vancouver and Portland area," Jerry Buendel, WSDA Assistant Director for Food Safety & Consumer Services.

Among the violations were the fact that there was no running water or hand-washing sink in the milking area, the milking area wasn't sufficiently clean, chickens and other fowl were running loose in the area and milk processing took place in the family kitchen.

Eighteen people were sickened in Washington and Oregon, including two children who were placed on life support during their hospital stays.

The Pucketts could face a civil penalty of up to $1,000 per day per violation.

The Longview Daily News reports that two bills were introduced in the House and Senate to make sure unlicensed dairies can't skirt state and federal health laws, in response to the spread of a near-deadly strain of E. coli bacteria linked to raw milk from Dee Creek Farm.

Dee Creek Farm, an unlicensed dairy, gave raw, unpasteurized milk to "cow-shareholders," of which 18 were sickened as a result of E.coli poisoning.

State law requires distributors of raw milk to follow federal health standards, get a state license and have their milk's bacteria levels tested, but Anita and Michael Puckett, owners of the farm, claim that they didn't sell the milk, but provided it for free to people who owned "shares" of the cow that produced the milk.

"Cow-sharing" is a loophole in the raw milk market that many feel should be closed.

The proposed bill also would give the Washington Department of Agriculture authority to inspect unlicensed dairies and review their business records.

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services has released a report detailing an investigation that traced an E. coli outbreak to the Crossroads Farm Petting Zoo at the N.C. State Fair, according to WNCT-TV.

At least 106 people became infected with E. coli after attending the Crossroads Farm Petting Zoo at the Fair.

Since 1998, at least seven E. coli outbreaks have been traced to fairs. A 2003 study by USDA found E. coli was not only commonly present at fairs but that levels of the bacteria were similar to those found in commercially reared livestock.

E. coli bacteria is found on feces, and people become ill if they eat food or drink water containing the bacteria. The disease can be contained by isolating E. coli patients and careful hand-washing.

There have already been four lawsuits against the Crossroads Petting Zoo, not just associated with their presence at the Fair.

The Daily News Online reports that Clark County Health Department officials have announced that one of the final two children hospitalized with E. coli last month has been released from the hospital. The other remains in the hospital but is improving.

Five Clark County children were hospitalized in an E. coli outbreak linked to raw milk from Woodland's Dee Creek Farm. A total of 18 people were sickened.

Preliminary state tests found E. coli in Dee Creek milk, but more sophisticated tests are needed to link the DNA of the E. coli found in the milk to the DNA of the E. coli found in patients.

The farm stopped distributing milk after the outbreak and remains under a cease-and-desist order from Cowlitz County.

Welsh Assembly health officials have published a report saying that the south Wales E. coli outbreak was handled in a textbook manner.

The review of how the health service coped with the bug made 22 recommendations on improving responses to a major outbreak, but that it was unlikely the improvements would have reduced the number of infected people.

The outbreak affected 158 people and killed five-year-old Mason Jones.

An abstract in the January Journal of Food Protection compared the survival rate of E. coli bacteria in food and water, after it has passed through a digestive tract.

Fecal samples were taken from cattle before and after oral inoculation of a specific E. coli strain. The fecal samples taken before the oral inoculation were then inoculated in the lab.

The study found that the E.coli survived the same amount of time in both samples.

The two sets of samples were then used to inoculate 5L volumes of water. In water, the E.coli from cattle who were inoculated lasted 10 weeks longer than the E.coli in feces inoculated in the lab.

The study suggests that pathogen survival in low-nutrient conditions may be enhanced by passage through the gastrointestinal tract.