The researchers, including USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS) animal scientist Thomas S. Edrington, reported how the E. coli sense a key chemical that plays a critical role in allowing the bacteria to colonize inside the cattle’s gastrointestinal (GI) tract.

To proliferate, E. coli express genes differently based on their environment, such as outside the cattle host, inside the cattle rumen, or even at the end of the cattle GI tract. Having a better understanding of when, why and how these bacteria colonize could lead to practical applications in the future, according to Edrington.

The researchers showed that “quorum sensing” chemicals called acyl-homoserine lactones (AHLs), which are produced by other bacteria, are present within the bovine rumen but absent in other areas of the cattle GI tract. AHLs are important because E. coli harbor a regulator, called SdiA, which senses these AHLs and then prompts the E. coli to attach and colonize.

The research suggests that limiting production of the SdiA chemical, or blocking bacterial reception of the AHLs, may eventually lead to new strategies for keeping E. coli from attaching inside the animal.

The study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, was conducted at the University of Idaho, Moscow, Idaho, campus. It involved researchers from several universities and was headed by Vanessa Sperandio, who is with the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, in Dallas.

Scientists at the University of Nottingham School of Veterinary Medicine and Science have discovered that certain tissues in cockroach brains are able to kill more than 90 per cent of pathogenic Escherichia coli without harming human cells.  Other bacteria, such as multi-drug resistant MRSA are also annihilated by cockroach brains.

The research has identified up to nine different molecules in the insect tissues that were toxic to bacteria.

The leak sprung from a sewer line that leaked as many as 400,000 gallons of sewage into the ground near the restaurant, according to San Antonio Water System. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality has now taken over the probe into how the well water supplying Fralo’s Art of Pizza got contaminated, and whether there is a connection between the restaurant E. coli contamination and the sewage leak.

According to the news report: “At first, SAWS officials said no one was affected by the Aug. 19 overflow, but then 24 restaurant customers were sickened from E. coli.” The restaurant has since reopened after water test results came back negative for E. coli, and the restaurant owner has said the water will be tested daily as a precaution.

Source:

http://www.kens5.com/news/New-investigator-seeks-answers-in-E-coli-cases-at-pizza-shop-101638553.html

“With the temporary measures [the amusement park] put in place, it’s safe for them to operate,” Summers said.

According to the news report, Warren County officials found out in late July  that one of five drinking water samples taken from the park had tested positive for E. coli. Visitors are being instructed not to drink the water. Plumbing repairs have finished and the park’s drinking water will be tested again this week. So long as the park is taking steps to remedy the issue, no fines will be imposed. News reports cited that the Land of Make Believe did receive a violation in 2009 from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection for “unpermitted discharge to ground or surface water from a septic system.”

Source:

http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/warren-county/index.ssf?/base/news-3/1282104315245270.xml&coll=3

Under the Federal Meat Inspection Act, the Poultry Products Inspection Act, and the Egg Products Inspection Act, FSIS provides mandatory federal inspection of meat and meat food products, poultry products, and processed egg products. FSIS bears the cost of mandatory inspection provided during non-overtime and non-holiday hours of operation, while the establishments pay for inspection services performed on holidays or on an overtime basis. The regulations define the basic workweek as five consecutive eight-hour days, excluding the lunch period. FSIS proposes that the eight hours of inspection service provided by the Agency include sufficient time for inspection program personnel to put on required gear and walk to a work station as well as to return from a workstation and remove required gear. Any time over those eight hours is overtime charged to an establishment.

The toddler’s father, told The Northwestern that his family wants all parents to know what can happen with E. coli and the signs to watch out for. HUS develops in five to 15 percent of people who contract shiga toxin-producing E. coli — mostly E. coli 0157:H7 — and children under 5 are the most susceptible of any age group.

The sick child developed a low-grade fever about five days after visiting the petting zoo on July 25. When she developed bloody diarrhea, they rushed her to the emergency room at St. Agnes Hospital. The next day they brough her to see her pediatrician and she was admitted to the hospital because she was dehydrated. When her kidneys failed, she was transported to the hospital in Milwaukee. She remains on dialysis and has been receiving blood transfusions.

Researcher Dr. Prysor Williams said: “We are taking small samples of blood and saliva and looking for antibodies in the samples. That will tell us if that individual has been exposed to 0157. If antibodies are present it shows that that individual has a degree of immunity because all the volunteers are not patients.”

The story reports that the study’s findings could help in the search for an E. coli vaccine, and that repeated exposure over a long period of time may be protecting these farmers from the otherwise harmful pathogen. The Scotsman story reports that the Grampain region is said to have one of the highest E. coli infection rates in the world, and results of the study suggest a much higher rate of antibodies among that region’s population. According to the story:

Rates of E coli 0157 in Scotland are higher than the rest of the UK. Last year, there were 4.6 cases per 100,000 people in Scotland, compared with fewer than two per 100,000 in England. In Grampian there were 11.1 cases per 100,000…The reasons for the higher rates in Scotland remain unclear.

According to a press release on the town’s website:

“The Wareham Fire District Water Department, (WFDWD) routinely monitors for the presence of drinking water contaminants to ensure the safety of the water supply. On Tuesday, August 3, 2010, at 2 p.m. we were notified that a fecal indicator (E. coli) was detected in a raw water (untreated) sample collected on Monday, August 1, 2010 from Maple Springs Well #4. THIS WELL WAS IMMEDIATELY REMOVED FROM SERVICE.”

The town of Wareham will continue to keep the well out of service, pending approval to open it again from the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection. The town will continue to investigate at remove the source of contamination.

E. coli Well Water Contamination

Although commonly thought  of as a foodborne pathogen, E. coli can contaminate groundwater and water supplies just as it can contaminate hamburgers or spinach. Harmful strains of E. coli can be found in human and animal digestive systems, and therefore in human an animal waste. After heavy precipitation like rainfall or snow melting, “fecal indicators” can show up in groundwater, rivers, lakes and other bodies of water. According to the Wareham press release, “Fecal indicators are microbes whose presence indicates that the water may be contaminated with human or animal wastes. Microbes in these wastes can cause diarrhea, cramps, nausea, headaches, or other symptoms. They may pose a special health risk for infants, young children, some of the elderly, and people with severely compromised immune systems.”

Source:

http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100804/NEWS/8040324

One presentation, “Flour Food Safety: The Changing Landscape — Escherichia coli O157:H7,” was given by representatives from Cargill, Nestle and ConAgra and outlined how the industry is reexamining flour as a potential source for E. coli contamination in food. The importance of this issue is highlighted by last year’s E. coli outbreak associated with Nestle Tollhouse raw cookie dough that sickened roughly 75 people in multiple states. According to and IAFP summary of the presentation:

“Flour has been viewed as a raw agricultural product for years; but with a recent outbreak involving consumption of an uncooked product containing flour, regulators and industry are re-examining whether flour should be treated as a RTE ingredient in some foods that may be consumed uncooked by the consumer. This mini-symposium will examine the history of flour and what industry knows about the microbiology of this product during production, harvesting and milling; the regulatory perceptions of flour as a potential vehicle of pathogens; the transformation of microbiological criteria associated with flour and the verification testing required to gauge compliance with the new criteria; and one solution available to deliver RTE flour as an ingredient.”

Another piece of research included at the conference comes from researchers at the Silliker, Inc., Food Science Center in South Holland, Illinois, and focuses on validating testing methodologies for raw cookie dough and its ingredients.