12/15/06 Bird Flu Vaccine & Lettuce Culprit

Bird Flu Vaccine and Lettuce is Culprit. I'm Greg Martin with today's Northwest Report. North Korea has claimed it developed a poultry vaccine against the deadly H5N1 type of bird flu and is inoculating chickens as part of stepped-up efforts to prevent the disease following outbreaks in South Korea. It is unknown when the vaccine was developed or how effective it is. Bird flu hit North Korea early last year, prompting the slaughter of about 210,000 chickens and other poultry. No new cases have since been reported. At a chicken farm in Pyongyang on Wednesday, quarantine workers were disinfecting all trucks entering the farm, spraying disinfectants on the vehicles and putting disinfectant powder on the ground to make sure tires do not carry any virus. Health officials on Wednesday zeroed in on lettuce as the likely suspect in the E. coli outbreak linked to Taco Bell, though tracing the vegetable`s source may prove difficult. The outbreak apparently has run its course after 71 confirmed cases of the disease in five states, primarily New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania. The company first believed green onions were responsible, but follow-up testing by the government failed to confirm that. Interviews with patients and other investigative work pointed toward lettuce as the culprit. Most E. coli infections are associated with undercooked meat, but increasingly produce is to blame. Health officials believe most cases of E. coli contamination originate on the farm, where produce can come into contact with animal feces laden with the bacteria. Now here's today's Washington Grange. (GRANGE) That's today's Northwest Report. I'm Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.