What kind of people would be using an irrigation canal as a toilet?
Posted on 06/29/2018 4:26:59 PM PDT by BenLurkin
The US Food and Drug Administration, along with the CDC and various state partners, then traced the outbreak back to a single growing region: Yuma, Arizona, which calls itself the "Winter Lettuce Capital of the World."
... Yuma grows about $2.5 billion a year of more than 175 crops, including dates, lemons and melons. But what's important here is that Yuma County says it grows 90% of all leafy greens America eats between the months of November and March.
According to the FDA, the last shipments of lettuce for the season shipped in April, and the shelf life has since expired, therefore the contaminated lettuce is no longer available.
During the investigation, the FDA discovered that the outbreak couldn't be traced back to a single grower, harvester, processor or distributor. It was across multiple supply chains. That led to suspicions that the outbreak might be from a common water source.
On Thursday, the CDC said that indeed, samples taken from canal water that irrigated the Yuma growing fields were laced with the same deadly bacteria.
"The E. coli O157:H7 found in the canal water is closely related genetically to the E. coli O157:H7 from ill people," the CDC said in a final update on the outbreak. How the E. coli came to be in the canal water is still under investigation by the FDA. "Samples have been collected from environmental sources in the region, including water, soil, and cow manure. Evaluation of these samples is ongoing," the FDA said in an update.
Interestingly, not all of the people who became sick had actually eaten romaine lettuce. Some had close contact with people who had eaten the infected greens.
(Excerpt) Read more at ktla.com ...
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Interesting. What if someone did that deliberately?
geee wonder who contaminated the canal water........
workers relieving themselves in the canal ..is that deliberate or just frigen ignorant
What kind of people would be using an irrigation canal as a toilet?
“How the E. coli came to be in the canal water is still under investigation by the FDA”
Sick agro-worker(s) needing and not having a “port-a-pottie” pooped in the canal. My guess.
Dont need a frigen degree to figure this one out
And why did it take this long to make the determination?
More often than not, e coli contamination of produce comes from cattle feces runoff.
Infected illegals pooped or swam in the irrigation water.
montezuma’s revenge comes to America. sure saved a lot on wages though.
I stand corrected
The mexicans polluted Lake Perris to the point they had to close it due to e coli a few years back.
Exactly, and you know that’s what happened. See it all the time in this Ag. area, but we aren’t surrounded by edibles anymore. Only landscape plant growers.
In Yuma cattle and other livestock are a very minor business. OK there is a camel farm for the snowbirds to enjoy and PETA to bitch about.
Likely the field workers relieving themselves in the canal. No intent, just no brains.
Lettuce barely qualifies as food anyway.
All those illegal puckers urinate and poop in the ditch
Yup
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