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Re: E. coli ?'s



 I have often wondered  that about bat and seabird waste and even earthworm
waste.  When we farmers make compost tea or manure tea,can plant or human
pathogens be passed along to the grower mixing it.  Not a bad question.
With all the manure dust floating around I have often wondered the same
thing.  And now manure tea is becoming a big thing also earth worms are made
to eat all kinds of waste and it also is becoming a big thing to sell earth
worm castings. So are they safe for us growers. Is the dust safe.  Should
one ware protective mask and gloves to handle bat shit or worm castings,dry
cow or chicken manure.  I know its good stuff but one can never be to safe.



At 11:26 AM 7/12/96 EDT, Parker, Ray wrote:
>Hello All- I was wondering a few things about something today as a read
>the daily paper today; there was an outbreak of E. coli tainted lettuce
>in Chicago recently (27 reported cases) and it was attributed to organic
>animal waste applied as a fertilizer. There has been an additional 39
>cases of E. coli 0157:H7 reported since May. Genetic testing has found
>that lettuce was not the source of the bacteria in those instances. Since
>this is an organic treatment on the lettuce, was the fertilizer applied
>incorrectly or was the fertilizer tainted from the start of treatment? Is
>the grower at fault for applying the cow manure in such a way to
>distribute this deadly bacteria? Do we as organic gardeners accept a
>certain amount of risk when using animal waste in our compost for this
>bacteria? Basically what I wondered is how this bacteria can be avoided,
>destroyed or checked for? This is an ugly subject, but I'm concerned
>about the horse/chicken/cow manure in my compost heap and then selling on
>the open market. Can we be held liable?
>
>Ray
>
>Who was once shocked to learn that my septic tank contents were sometimes
>sold to farmers and fertilizer companies. I was told the farmers spray it
>on their plants, yuck!
>
>
http://www.rain.org/~sals/my.html
a homepage for organic farmers
sals@rain.org


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