Research
Fighting HUS E coli by Studying How to Kill it in Cattle
A microbiologist at Washington State University has received a $1 million grant from USDA’s Agriculture and Food Research Initiative to study if previous research into stopping the bacteria at its source – cattle – may be more effective once different…
New Research Exploring Drug-Resistance in E. coli
No one really knows exactly how E. coli O157:H7 and other bacteria become resistant to antibiotics. But new research suggests that low levels of antibiotics might potentially increase the random chance that bacteria might mutate into resistant forms.
The new theory was published in…
Battlefront Shifts in Fight Against Beef E coli Outbreaks
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates about 73,480 people are infected each year with E. coli O157:H7, resulting in 600 deaths. Contaminated beef is a leading source of these illnesses and the chronic nature of beef E. coli outbreaks…
Bacteria Control Critical in Stopping Bagged Lettuce E. coli
With the latest issue of Consumer Reports confirming that the produce industry is still selling pre-washed, bagged salad greens that contain problematic levels of bacteria, it’s appropriate to review why this will no doubt lead to another outbreak of E. coli O157:H7, Salmonella or…
E coli Watch in Bagged Salad Greens Finds Contaminants
A new Consumer Reports test found common indicators of poor sanitation and fecal contamination in pre-washed, bagged salad greens that were purchased before their use-by dates.
The March 2010 issue of the magazine says the relatively small sample – 208 containers representing…
Large Scale Vaccine Trial Started to Prevent Beef E coli Outbreaks
Cargill’s beef packing division is in the midst of a large-scale trial of a vaccine in cattle to combat E. coli O157:H7, a potentially deadly human pathogen that continues to cause massive E. coli ground beef recalls and multi-state outbreaks of E. coli infection.
A Cargill spokesman told…
Spinach E coli Study Shows Importance of Colder Refrigeration
A very large and deadly spinach E. coli outbreak hit the United States in September 2006 in which 199 people in 26 states were sickened after eating contaminated, bagged spinach grown in San Benito County, California. Four deaths were linked to…
E. coli O157:H7 in Leafy Greens: How Does it Get There?
By Fred Pritzker
It’s relatively easy for the general public to understand the sequence of an E. coli O157:H7 outbreak involving ground beef, but scientists are still studying how the pathogen finds its way from the stomachs of cattle and other hooved…
Common Garden Microbe Combats E. coli
Geneticist Michael B. Cooley of the ARS Western Regional Research Center in Albany, Calif. has found that the common garden microbe Enterobacter asburiae significantly reduced the quantity of both E. coli O157:H7 and Salmonella enterica. Hale seeds were incubated with E. asburiae and…
