I'll be crapping 'till I finish, cuz I ate my spinach...

pO157.

Posted to Etcetera on Tue Sep 19, 2006 at 11:51:12 AM EST. RSS.

The Centers for Disease Control reported today that the latest outbreak of E. coli serotype O157:H7 has been confirmed in 10 states (cases in Connecticut, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, New Mexico, Ohio, Oregon and Utah, with a death reported in Wisconsin). There have been 58 confirmed cases so far.  

This outbreak is believed to be linked to spinach produced in California, USA. Because the exact brand responsible has yet to be determined, public health officials in some areas are cautioning consumers to discard any spinach they may recently have purchased, and stores have been removing the items from the shelf.

The bacterial disease is dangerous because of its extremely low infectious dose compared to other pathogens (only ~10 bacterial cells can cause an infection, compared to tens of thousands to millions for other pathogens), in addition to the fact that it secretes toxins which can rapidly damage the kidney and internal organs. To top it all off, antibiotics cannot be used against this bacteria as they can exacerbate the condition. Symptoms include headache, vomiting, low grade fever, and watery diarrhea becoming bloody after a few days.

This disease normally kills less than a hundred Americans per year, and infects about 75,000 in the states, although the numbers are much higher in 3rd world countries. E. coli O157:H7 is commonly thought to be spread by contaminated, undercooked, hamburger meats, however other outbreaks have centered around a variety of sources, such as at fairs, petting zoos, and the like. It has even been known for a while that E. coli O157:H7 can be spread on vegetables (accidentally or intentionally) by contamination from feces or feces suspended in liquid used to water and clean the vegetables in bad farming practice.

Exacerbating the problem is the fact that farmers commonly use manure to fertilize their fields because it is cheap and produced for free by their animals. This leads to contamination of farm products and the farm environment as various types of E. coli are present in the gut of every warm blooded mammal. If one of those types happens to be E. coli O157:H7, and the farm processes food products for widespread use, then watch out!

After the spinach is burned, the food supply is tested and found clean, and this mini-outbreak is contained, will this bring about a discussion of farming practices? Or any discussion about anything at all?

Or perhaps just silly drawings  illustrating what happens when you get an E. coli infection...