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Re: E. coli ?'s
Is this not the same organism that is a benign colonizer of most human guts?
I didn't know that e-coli was considered dangerous.
Can anyone enlighten me on why this is causing panic.
Thanks
Terry
>
>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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