Time to stop a potential epidemic in its tracks, folks.

[kestrel91316]

Time to renew your up close and personal relationship with soap and hot water and hand sanitizers. And time to be washing your produce VERY thoroughly, and practicing safe food handling throughout the kitchen.

European E. coli outbreak a wake-up call for new strains, shows gaps in US food safety system:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/european-e-coli-outbreak-a-wake-up-call-for-new-strains-shows-gaps-in-us-food-safety-system/2011/06/02/AGxfCUHH_story.html

Severity of Europe E. coli outbreak stuns experts:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110531/ap_on_he_me/eu_contaminated_vegetables_europe

Virulent new strain of E. coli found in deadly European outbreak:
http://www.latimes.com/news/health/la-fg-e-coli-20110603,0,7921563.story

CDC web page on E coli:
http://www.cdc.gov/ecoli/

USDA FSIS food safety page:
http://www.fsis.usda.gov/factsheets/basics_for_handling_food_safely/index.asp

***This new strain seems to be causing the most problems in ADULT WOMEN and not the typical very young/very old/sickly cohort.***

I have read of at least 3 cases in the US, all so far in people who have traveled recently to Europe. FWIW, my beloved niece is now in Europe on her honeymoon - she and spouse are vegetarians and love salads, and they will be traveling in France, Belgium, and the Netherlands. The actual produce involved is unknown, as is its source. I have a deeply personal stake in this thing.

But of greater concern for all of us is A) There is nothing to stop this strain of E coli from becoming well established in the US; and B) There is some concern that not all cases are food-borne - E coli can be spread person-to-person and that's where personal hygiene becomes critical. EVERYBODY needs to embark on a new, improved hygiene regimen BEFORE this thing gets worse.

ETA even more:
http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=76712 re washing produce

[roguevalley]

1. oh great. bugs that age and gender discriminate. :-D

[kestrel91316]

2. Please read my edited OP. I see nothing funny in this.

[roguevalley]

6. I did. I apologize if I offended you. Given my niece is a nurse, we

sort of have a lot of this worry in our family.

[WinkyDink]

4. Bio-warfare can.

[kestrel91316]

10. This isn't bio-warfare. It's stupid humans and factory farming and

poor hygiene. We don't seem to have the market on it cornered - Europe suffers from it, too.

[jberryhill]

3. And... Stay away from Breitbart /nt

[REP]

5. I didn't see if this one is susceptible to the usual antibiotics? Might have overlooked it

Due to my fucked-up immune system, I get a lot of resistant e. coli kidney infections (susceptible either to Cipro, nitrofuratonin or Tobramycin usually). Rather be silly than sorry and know what knocks this one out.

Mostly posting to kick, though. Hsndwashing is good!

[Pharaoh]

7. seems to be resistent to everything

This could be bad.

[kestrel91316]

8. This is a bug with multiple drug resistances, though I did read that E coli like this

is NOT customarily treated with antibiotics because, oddly, they can exacerbate complications.

[shanti]

23. how is it treated

if not by antibiotics?

[rucky]

9. I thought this was going to be a Brietbart thread.

[PassingFair]

32. Brietbart is spreading e-coli now?

I've heard he's anti-biotic resistant, too!

[snagglepuss]

11. Time for people to stop taste testing unwashed fruit in supermarkets.

Just the other day I saw someone hand her 3 kids unwashed grapes to try. I can't believe people still do this.

[kestrel91316]

14. When their kids start dying some day from this sort of thing, THEN they might stop.

But they might just continue, and then sue the store.

[shanti]

24. no more taste tests

at the farmer's markets then either :(

[muriel_volestrangler]

12. As far as I know, only people who have been in northern Germany have contracted this

And although they worry it might happen, I don't think there is an established case of person-to-person infection yet. So "There is nothing to stop this strain of E coli from becoming well established in the US" looks like an exaggeration, to me. The only place it's 'well established' is northern Germany, and that seems to be because of food there.

[kestrel91316]

13. Bacteria are no respecters of borders, particularly when they are in livestock,

which is the ultimate source of these nasty E coli's.

Here's how it can easily work: E coli in sick patient in Europe >>> patient flies to US >>> patient poops in US >>> poop with live E coli enters sewers and goes to treatment plant >>> poop solids with bacteria settle out at plant >>> sewage sludge gets disposed of by typical means, landfill, as fertilizer, whatever (point being, it AIN'T sterile, and E coli survives in it) >>> flies are attracted to sludge, pick up E coli, and move on to neighborhood nearby where small herd of cattle destined for feedlot is kept >>> cattle become infected and are moved to feedlot, where thousands of cattle wade in knee deep feces. Game. Set. Match.

And yes, I have degrees in microbiology and veterinary medicine and have formally studied all this crap. Literally. You cannot confine oral-fecal pathogenic bacteria geographically.

[snagglepuss]

19. That is very interesting especially in view of what I just googled about info I

read in today's Daily Mail that of the 1700 cases in Europe 500 have what's called Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (aka hamburger disease) which is a more virulent strain of E coli that affects the kidneys and other organs.

What seems odd is that I've haven't read any stories that mention meat as the potential source of the outbreak. Reseachers seem convinced it is coming from fresh produce that has been in contact with contaminated water.

snip

Where does the 'hamburger disease' bacteria come from?

E. coli O157:H7 bacteria infect the intestine of cattle and less frequently the intestines of other animals. Typically carried in the feces, it can contaminate the meat during and after slaughtering. These bacteria are associated mainly with consumption of undercooked ground beef, unpasteurized milk and cheese, and contaminated water sources. Once someone has eaten contaminated food, this infection can pass from person-to-person by hand-to-mouth contact. Poor hand-washing and improper food handling are factors which lead to the spread of these bacteria.

http://www.cheori.org/cpkdrc/what_is_hus.htm

[muriel_volestrangler]

28. Many of the victims are vegetarians

So meat itself can be ruled out as the primary means of spreading it; and they are probably assuming that so many people couldn't catch it from unpasteurized dairy products, since those are pretty rare and it would be easy to find such consumption as a common factor.

[saras]

15. E. Coli is fecal bacteria - time to stop putting shit on our food

[kestrel91316]

16. It doesn't necessarily get "put" there deliberately. It winds up there.

Chicken carcass contaminated with Campylobacter, Salmonella, and/or E coli >>> kitchen counter and knife >>> failure to keep said clean >>> use said to prepare raw produce for eating raw >>> Game Set. Match.

There is no reasonable expectation that our fresh foods be free of bacteria, and pathogens may well be among them. That is why food safety after purchase is our personal responsibility.

Even badly contaminated food can be safely consumed IF IT IS HANDLED AND COOKED PROPERLY. And the government bends over backwards to provide information on how to do this. But you can't force people to comply. They are lazy.

[bananas]

17. Also, a new strain of the MRSA 'superbug' is found in British milk

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x4871095

MRSA 'superbug' is found in British milk
Source: Independent

A new strain of MRSA has been discovered in British milk, scientists report today.

The superbug, resistant to antibiotics, has been isolated from samples of milk taken from farms around the country and has also infected humans. It is the first time MRSA has been found in farm animals in the UK.

Experts said that as virtually all milk sold in Britain is pasteurised, drinking it or eating dairy products was "not a health concern". Meat was also unlikely to be affected, but any MRSA present would be destroyed in cooking anyway.

The "main worry" was that the bacteria might colonise people who work on farms, who might then transmit it to the wider community.

Read more: http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/mrsa-superbug-is-found-in-british-milk-2292491.html

[nadinbrzezinski]

18. Here you go spreading rumors and scaring people

:sarcasm:

At this point I fear I will not post any of these very good pieces of advise... after all some have accused me of fear mongering....

Oh and it will establish itself... there is no doubt in my mind.

[bananas]

29. There's more bacteria in a banana! nt

:sarcasm:

[nadinbrzezinski]

31. LOL

[grasswire]

20. what do you recommend for washing produce?

thanks in advance

[pitohui]

22. grasswire, the germans do wash their hands and produce, washing won't do anything

you have to actually COOK the produce to make it safe

of all the people of the world to accuse of not quite washing their hands or their produce, the germans are the last ones i'd worry about, if this thing could have been stopped by relentless "cleanliness" it would never have happened

[snagglepuss]

26. You're jumping to conclusions. No one yet knows where it came from.

The Germans are now backing away from saying it was cukes. If it were fresh produce, it could have come from restaurants with lax standards. Furthermore, the suggestion that all Germans are cleaniness fanatics is simply a stereotype. One could easily say that a lot of younger Germans have rebelled against old stereotypes. I know people who grew up in germ-phobic households but as adults have thrown caution to the wind. As I posted I still see people tasting unwashed produce in stores even when there are many reports of dangerous bacteria found on the surface of fruits and veggies.

[pitohui]

21. a response that might actually help is just to stop eating uncooked produce

the advice offered seems to imply that the germans are a filthy people who do not wash their hands or their lettuce and i assure you that germans are a very clean people

they do wash their hands, this outbreak wasn't caused by people who don't wash their hands or their lettuce, it was caused by eating uncooked produce

it's the 21st century, we all stopped eating raw eggs 30 years ago, it's time to accept that eating raw vegetables is just as unhealthy

[shanti]

25. unless

you grow it yourself. there's a home gardening movement now. maybe this is another incentive to increase the numbers!

[flvegan]

27. Eating raw vegetables is unhealthy?

For once, I am completely at a loss on how to respond.

[etherealtruth]

33. This happens all over the world

The real advice for regarding produce is to carefully wash it ... including the rinds and skins of fruits/veggies you peel. Some don't understand that if you don't you run the risk of driving bacteria into the fruit when you cut it.

I certainly don't think Germans (or any other group of folk) are filthy people ....but, I do understand the crucial role hand-washing plays in disease transmission.

[JVS]

34. I'm not surprised German produce is contaminated, I've seen some really shitty handling of it.

Out of a desire to be more ecologically friendly, a lot of german grocery stores don't refrigerate their produce sections. Also, I've seen a grocery store that has a few steps before the entrance and exit use the stairway space betweent the two doors to put tomatoes, strawberries, and other vegetables. Peoples feet and their pets (gotta bring those in the store) walk inches from the produce.

[etherealtruth]

30. I first read about this this morning and was horrified

I don't think many people believe/ understand the huge role simple handwashing plays in disease transmission.

Scares the hell out of me.

[Lucian]

35. I'm not worried.

I don't eat red meat and I cook my vegetables.