FYI: Farm Animals Pose E. Coli Threat to Kids - Study

[Guest guest]

FYI:

 

 

Farm Animals Pose E. Coli Threat to Kids - Study

Reuters

Aug 21 2002 7:06PM

BOSTON (Reuters) - Children who have contact with farm animals run the risk

of being infected by a deadly E. coli bacteria if they do not wash their

hands before eating, researchers said on Wednesday.

 

Medical detectives reached the conclusion after studying an outbreak of E.

coli illness among preschoolers who visited a Pennsylvania farm.

 

Tainted food and water are seen as the usual causes of E. coli O157:H7

infection, which each year kills about 60 Americans and sickens more than

70,000.

 

However, there is concern that contact with animals such as cattle, which

are known to harbor the bacteria, may cause people to develop the bloody

diarrhea, fever, and vomiting that are common symptoms of the infection.

 

The new study, published in Thursday's New England Journal of Medicine,

began after 16 people fell ill in the autumn of 2000, most of them after

visiting a petting farm that housed cows, sheep, goats, pigs and llamas.

 

The investigators, led by John A. Crump of the Centers for Disease Control

and Prevention in Atlanta, ultimately identified 15 confirmed cases and 36

suspected cases of infection.

 

They also discovered that 15 percent of the 216 cattle were infected with E.

coli, a rate up to 30 times higher than usual. In addition, most of the E.

coli had the same genetic fingerprint as the strain that made the children

ill.

 

Once the farm was closed to the public on Nov. 4, no new cases were

reported.

 

The Crump team found that people who became sick were more likely to have

had more contact with the animals, and that people who tended to bite their

nails or purchased food or drink from the outdoor concession stand faced a

higher risk of infection, unless they had washed their hands.

 

Hand washing, supervised contact with animals " and clear separation of

food-related activities from areas housing animals " would reduce the risk

for visitors interested in experiencing farm life, the researchers said.

 

In an editorial published in the journal, Sarah O'Brien and Goutam Adak of

the Public Health Laboratory Service Communicable Disease Surveillance

Center in London called the finding another milestone in the understanding

of E. coli O157:H7.

 

08/21/02 19:03 ET

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

You can get E.Coli from everywhere. E.Coli is particurly found in Salad Food. If

you dont wash salad or any raw food before use, you are at a treat of E.Coli. It

is also important that people wash their hands of using the bathroom, as this is

also a source of E.Coli. I tested for E.Coli in dihydromonoxide and it was

living in that too, and as we know dihydromonoxide is everywhere,air, land and

bodies and food.

Basically people should always wash their hands ( & food).

Tracey

Tony Martin wrote:FYI:

 

 

Farm Animals Pose E. Coli Threat to Kids - Study

Reuters

Aug 21 2002 7:06PM

BOSTON (Reuters) - Children who have contact with farm animals run the risk

of being infected by a deadly E. coli bacteria if they do not wash their

hands before eating, researchers said on Wednesday.

 

Medical detectives reached the conclusion after studying an outbreak of E.

coli illness among preschoolers who visited a Pennsylvania farm.

 

Tainted food and water are seen as the usual causes of E. coli O157:H7

infection, which each year kills about 60 Americans and sickens more than

70,000.

 

However, there is concern that contact with animals such as cattle, which

are known to harbor the bacteria, may cause people to develop the bloody

diarrhea, fever, and vomiting that are common symptoms of the infection.

 

The new study, published in Thursday's New England Journal of Medicine,

began after 16 people fell ill in the autumn of 2000, most of them after

visiting a petting farm that housed cows, sheep, goats, pigs and llamas.

 

The investigators, led by John A. Crump of the Centers for Disease Control

and Prevention in Atlanta, ultimately identified 15 confirmed cases and 36

suspected cases of infection.

 

They also discovered that 15 percent of the 216 cattle were infected with E.

coli, a rate up to 30 times higher than usual. In addition, most of the E.

coli had the same genetic fingerprint as the strain that made the children

ill.

 

Once the farm was closed to the public on Nov. 4, no new cases were

reported.

 

The Crump team found that people who became sick were more likely to have

had more contact with the animals, and that people who tended to bite their

nails or purchased food or drink from the outdoor concession stand faced a

higher risk of infection, unless they had washed their hands.

 

Hand washing, supervised contact with animals " and clear separation of

food-related activities from areas housing animals " would reduce the risk

for visitors interested in experiencing farm life, the researchers said.

 

In an editorial published in the journal, Sarah O'Brien and Goutam Adak of

the Public Health Laboratory Service Communicable Disease Surveillance

Center in London called the finding another milestone in the understanding

of E. coli O157:H7.

 

08/21/02 19:03 ET