E. coli strain found in cows near spinach field

From the AP via the Houston Chronicle:

Investigators still do not know how the feces could have contaminated the spinach implicated in the bacterial outbreak. They also do not know if the ranch used manure from the cattle to fertilize its fields. Nor is there evidence that livestock entered the spinach fields on the ranch. However, wild pigs roamed the property, they said.

"There's lots of wildlife and lots of potential for breakdown in the fencing," Reilly told reporters.

The strain of pathogenic E. coli O157:H7 was found in three cattle fecal samples collected at the ranch, one of four under investigation, the officials said. It matched the strain found in sick patients and in bags of recalled spinach.

Investigators continue to look at irrigation water and the hygiene of farm workers as potential sources of the bacteria.

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An AlterNet article I read a couple of weeks ago, for which I cannot seem to find the link at the moment, speculated on exactly this cause. However, the writer was willing to go where this AP writer is unwilling to go. That is, he suggested a cause: cattle waste doesn't simply drop on the ground these days; it's held in massive cesspools that tend to spring leaks fairly regularly. The idea is that the leaks were absorbed into the water table. That water was then used to irrigate the spinach, and, bang, we have an E coli outbreak. No matter how you look at this, it's the result of a lax regulatory environment in Washington. I suppose it's nice and all that modern agri-giants are making lots of money, but that's no cure for the couple of hundred people sickened by E coli, or for the three people killed. Ultimately, greed, and nothing else, made this happen.

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