7-8 FB E Coli Solutions 1

 An estimated 70 to 80 percent of healthy cattle herds in the United States at least sometimes carry the deadly E. coli with no ill effects, passing it to each other through their environment or by direct contact with each other.

 E. coli from the farm environment, presumably in feed or water, is ingested by cattle and passes through the rumen, the first and largest compartment in their four-part stomach along the GI tract until it reaches the rectoanal junction mucosa where it attaches and colonizes. The main threat for people occurs from cattle shedding the bacteria in manure, which can then contaminate meat in processing plants or affect  produce.

Bill Loftus, from University of Idaho’s College of Agricultural and Life Sciences explains the pathogen path to produce: “You got cattle grazing some place and then a storm hits and the runoff goes into a lettuce field and you have cross contamination.”

Tomorrow, we learn about some research that may resolve these problems.