October 13, 2006

E. coli in California cattle matches killer strain

Officials have found cattle manure from a ranch in California's Salinas Valley carried the same strain of E. coli that killed three and sickened 200 people recently, health officials said Thursday (Oct 1).

Samples taken from three cattle at the ranch were a match for the strain of E. coli 0157:H7 taken from patients and spinach linked to the outbreak, Dr. Kevin Reilly, deputy director of the Prevention Services Division at the California Department of Health said.

Reilly said investigators traced the outbreak to four farms in central California. The cattle were within two miles from the spinach fields.

Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which is leading the investigation, has been expressing concern that cattle were close to spinach and other vegetable fields.

A few suggestions put forward was that some cattle may have wandered over into the vegetable fields or it the bacteria might have gotten onto the vegetable fields through irrigated waters.

The pathogenic strain of E. coli O157:H7 causes almost 73,000 cases and 60 deaths in the US each year.

Tests were ongoing to see if the E. coli strain could be found at the other three farms under investigation.

The findings could lead to new recommendations for keeping livestock farther away from crop lands -- which has already been a source of concern, said Kevin Brackett, director of the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition at the US Food and Drug Administration.