Duran leads Al Nassr past Yokohama Marinos into AFC Champions League Elite semi-finals    Al Ahli cruise past Buriram into AFC Champions League Elite semi-finals    Saudi Arabia offers condolences to Iran following deadly Bandar Abbas port explosion    Saudi Arabia welcomes Palestinian leadership reforms, appointment of Hussein Al-Sheikh    Ministry of Hajj issued over 150,000 Nusuk cards for the Hajj of 2025    Saudi Arabia deports 12,866 illegal residents in a week    Pope Francis laid to rest at historic funeral in Rome    Massive explosion at Iran's Shahid Rajaee Port injures over 500 people    SFDA clears first 44-ton medical shipment for Hajj pilgrims    Over 13 million worshipers pray at Rawdah Sharif in a year    Saudi orchestra to perform at Sydney Opera House in May    Al Hilal thrash Gwangju to reach AFC Champions League Elite semi-finals    Nammos Amala Resort to open soon with Saudi-Greek designs    Saudi Arabia completes 674 Vision 2030 initiatives, achieves 93% of KPIs as ninth-year milestone marked    GACA chief chairs 16th meeting of the Steering Committee on aviation's strategy    Alkhorayef praises advancements in Al-Kharj food industries sector    Saudi Theater Commission launches its Work and Learn Project in UK    The season has begun — and one comment shook us all    Average life expectancy in Saudi Arabia rises to78.8 years    Famed Philippine film star Nora Aunor dies at 71    Pakistani star's Bollywood return excites fans and riles far right    Veteran Bollywood actor Manoj Kumar dies at 87    Bollywood actress vindicated over boyfriend's death after media hounding    Grand Mufti rules against posting prayers and preaching in mosques on social media    Exotic Taif Roses Simulation Performed at Taif Rose Festival    Asian shares mixed Tuesday    Weather Forecast for Tuesday    Saudi Tourism Authority Participates in Arabian Travel Market Exhibition in Dubai    Minister of Industry Announces 50 Investment Opportunities Worth over SAR 96 Billion in Machinery, Equipment Sector    HRH Crown Prince Offers Condolences to Crown Prince of Kuwait on Death of Sheikh Fawaz Salman Abdullah Al-Ali Al-Malek Al-Sabah    HRH Crown Prince Congratulates Santiago Peña on Winning Presidential Election in Paraguay    SDAIA Launches 1st Phase of 'Elevate Program' to Train 1,000 Women on Data, AI    41 Saudi Citizens and 171 Others from Brotherly and Friendly Countries Arrive in Saudi Arabia from Sudan    Saudi Arabia Hosts 1st Meeting of Arab Authorities Controlling Medicines    General Directorate of Narcotics Control Foils Attempt to Smuggle over 5 Million Amphetamine Pills    NAVI Javelins Crowned as Champions of Women's Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) Competitions    Saudi Karate Team Wins Four Medals in World Youth League Championship    Third Edition of FIFA Forward Program Kicks off in Riyadh    Evacuated from Sudan, 187 Nationals from Several Countries Arrive in Jeddah    SPA Documents Thajjud Prayer at Prophet's Mosque in Madinah    SFDA Recommends to Test Blood Sugar at Home Two or Three Hours after Meals    SFDA Offers Various Recommendations for Safe Food Frying    SFDA Provides Five Tips for Using Home Blood Pressure Monitor    SFDA: Instant Soup Contains Large Amounts of Salt    Mawani: New shipping service to connect Jubail Commercial Port to 11 global ports    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Delivers Speech to Pilgrims, Citizens, Residents and Muslims around the World    Sheikh Al-Issa in Arafah's Sermon: Allaah Blessed You by Making It Easy for You to Carry out This Obligation. Thus, Ensure Following the Guidance of Your Prophet    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques addresses citizens and all Muslims on the occasion of the Holy month of Ramadan    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



Search for source of E. coli spinach infections most thorough ever, but no clear answers yet
Published in Saudi Press Agency on 29 - 10 - 2006


Like lab technicians on a crime-scene
television drama, investigators have tracked a strain of
bacteria over thousands of miles (kilometers) _ from bagged
spinach in Midwestern refrigerators to the guts of a wild
pig in the hills of California's central coast, The Associated Press reported.
While they may never pinpoint the exact source of the
strain of E. coli blamed for killing three people and
sickening more than 200, they have come closer than ever
before. And experts say the investigation has yielded
valuable clues for preventing future outbreaks.
«We've completely overhauled the way we test and package
greens,» said Samantha Cabaluna, a spokeswoman for Natural
Selection Foods LLC, the company that packaged the tainted
spinach. «Regardless of the source or method of
contamination, we're better prepared to catch it.»
That is little solace to victims and their families.
«This was a long, convoluted story that took a long time
to unfold,» said Ken Costello, whose elderly mother-in-law
was among those who died.
The case started with scattered reports of people falling
sick. A 6-year-old boy in Wisconsin had bad cramps. A
12-year-old girl in Kentucky was hospitalized with
vomiting. An elderly woman died in Wisconsin.
Health officials began posting DNA profiles of the
responsible bacteria to a national database operated by the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
A pattern emerged: They were all caused by the same strain
of E. coli, short for Escherichia coli, a common and
ordinarily harmless intestinal bacteria, and bags of
spinach were found in victims' refrigerators.
Suspicion quickly focused on California's Salinas Valley,
which grows a large portion of the nation's fresh spinach
and had been cited in other E. coli outbreaks linked to
salad greens.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration was alerted on Sept.
13, and within hours it had launched one of the most
extensive investigations in its history.
«We put more people and far more resources into this than
ever before,» said Jack Guzewich, director of emergency
coordination and response for the FDA's Center for Food
Safety and Applied Nutrition.
By Sept. 14, the bacteria, identified as the O157:H7
strain of E. coli, had been blamed for 49 illnesses and one
death.
More than two dozen «food detectives» fanned out in the
quest to determine where the contamination had occurred
along the greens' journey from field to fork. They
collected spinach leaves from processing plants. They
frightened cows near fields of greens to induce defecation
and collect their manure. They dipped beakers into water
used to irrigate farms or wash the spinach.
Identification codes printed on the bags of leftover
spinach led detectives to their first breakthrough: they
had been packaged on Aug. 15 at a San Juan Bautista plant
operated by Natural Selection, one of the nation's biggest
purveyors of bagged salads. The company had already issued
a voluntary recall.
However, exhaustive testing of the plant's equipment and
water supply turned up none of the virulent strain of
bacteria, according to health officials and Natural
Selection.
Attention then turned to the fields. Using the company's
records, investigators traced the spinach packaged that day
to nine farms. Codes on more contaminated spinach packages
then narrowed the search to four fields, Cabaluna said.
By early October, the death toll had risen to three.
The FDA said the O157:H7 strain had been found in manure
on a cattle ranch within a mile (1.6 kilometers) of spinach
fields. Investigators combed the pastures, gathering more
samples, including wildlife and cattle feces.
Last week, health officials said six new samples from the
ranch tested positive for O157:H7.


Clic here to read the story from its source.