Sludge Watch ==> Spinach E.coli strain - found in pig - but what about sewage effluent?

[Maureen Reilly]

Sludgewatch Admin:

There is a cow with the outbreak Ecoli strain...there are some wild pigs. 
Investigators are still looking for the reason why people are ill or dead 
from E. coli 0157 after eating raw spinach.

The reports explain that the kind of DNA testing being done isn't like CSI.  
It doesn't point to an individual or a specific animal.  It is a strain of 
bacteria that can be found in different species of mammals.   But why is the 
focus on animals and livestock to the exclusion of the sewage effluent used 
for irrigation?

It would be good to find data on what quality of water is coming out of the 
irrigation pipes that bring sewage effluent from Monterey sewage treatment 
plant out to irrigate both organic and conventional spinach and lettuce in 
the Salinas Valley.  It would be good to know if the afflicted fields were 
irrigated with this sewage effluent.

How likely is the irrigation water to be fingered as the culprit?  From 
where I sit, it seems highly unlikely that the water will be blamed.  Why?  
Because due to salt water intrusion into the Salinas Valley, if those fields 
can't use sewage effluent they wouldn't have cheap useable water. No cheap 
water- no farming.  No farming - big damages.  As well, sewage treatment 
plants are municipally run....and muncipalities have deep pockets.    If it 
is established that a cow or pig did the dirty and killed all those people - 
well you can't sue a cow or a pig.  You can sue a sewage district.

There is plenty of opportunity for E.coli 0157 to enter sewage treatment 
plants from slaughterhouse wastes, tankerage, and rendering wastes.  Also 
from landfill leachate.
And you have to know that the spin doctors and damage control guys in the 
wastewater industry are very busy talking about cow manure and pigs rooting 
under fences right now.  They want to keep the public mind focussed on 
animal manure and keep the spotlight as far as possible from the recycled 
sewage effluent that is even now irrigating spinach plants in the Salinas 
Valley.

Just because E coli 0157 is associated with cow dung doesn't mean that it 
won't be found in sewage sludge and sewage effluent.    Lets hope the 
inspectors, legal consultants and reporters investigating the E. coli 
outbreak look at all the suspects - including the 'reclaimed' irrigation 
water.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SALINAS VALLEY
Spinach E. coli strain found in wild pig gut and water from creek
- Sabin Russell, Chronicle Medical Writer
Friday, October 27, 2006


Investigators searching for the source of E. coli bacteria that contaminated 
fresh spinach resulting in a 26-state outbreak of food poisoning have found 
the suspect strain in the gut of a wild pig killed on the Salinas Valley 
ranch where the tainted produce was grown.

The same strain of E. coli had already been found in cattle pastured on land 
surrounding the 50-acre spinach field. On Thursday, state officials said 
more samples of the strain were found: in the pig, in other cow manure 
samples, and in water from a creek located a mile downslope from that field.

Investigators had found evidence earlier that wild pigs had penetrated 
fencing built to keep wildlife out of the spinach field. There were tracks 
of the animals in the fields, where they had apparently been drawn to feast 
on the fresh greens.

Further studies are under way to determine whether wells used to irrigate 
the spinach might also harbor the microbe, a subtype that appears to be more 
virulent than most other strains of E. coli O157:H7.

According to Kevin Reilly, deputy director of prevention for the California 
Department of Health Services, samples of cow manure taken from three other 
farms still under investigation have also tested positive for O157:H7, but 
these strains were different from the one responsible for the tainted 
spinach.

Reilly said the three other farms are not close to the one where the 
implicated strain was found. The creek flowing through that ranch is a 
habitat for wild pigs. Tests have yet to be conducted downstream from that 
farm. State and federal officials have consistently declined to identify any 
of the farms they are investigating.

A total of 204 people were sickened after eating contaminated spinach traced 
to the four farms, located in San Benito and Monterey counties. Of these, 
104 were hospitalized, and three have died. No one has been sickened since 
Sept. 25.

"The outbreak,'' said Reilly, "appears to be over.''

E-mail Sabin Russell at srussell at sfchronicle.com.

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URL: 
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/10/27/BAGQ4M14OJ1.DTL