Posted on 12/02/2005 11:10:55 AM PST by BurbankKarl
Health officials on Thursday identified lettuce as the likely source for a hepatitis A outbreak in Los Angeles County and urged residents to thoroughly wash the vegetable before eating it.
At least 60 people have fallen ill from the virus in Los Angeles County over the last three months. Officials are concerned because the outbreak comes after years of declining hepatitis A cases, but they have been unable to link the outbreak to a particular farm or type of lettuce.
There were at least two outbreaks: one in a downtown Los Angeles restaurant in September that affected 13; the other at an event catered by a Hollywood company in October where 19 fell ill. The other cases were scattered.
Officials would not identify the specific locations of the outbreaks, saying there is no ongoing risk at those sites.
"We believe lettuce was the problem in these events," said Dr. Jonathan Fielding, public health director for Los Angeles County.
"This is a problem that deserves real attention, and people eating in a restaurant should ask if the produce is being cleaned carefully."
Fielding added that consumers should wash even salads that are packaged and labeled as washed. Packaged lettuce has been linked to E. coli outbreaks, including a case this fall involving salads packaged by a division of Westlake Village-based Dole Food Co. in Salinas, Calif. The salads sickened more than a dozen people in Minnesota.
Officials had initially observed an increase in hepatitis A in homeless patients in the downtown Los Angeles area, although those numbers are dropping, said Dr. Laurene Mascola, director of the county's acute communicable disease control unit.
The county has observed declining hepatitis A rates since 1999, when health officials began advising that children be vaccinated against the disease.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
Right, but just the nutrients go into the roots, not the bacteria or living organisms.
Nutrient ions such as nitrate, chloride and sulphate, are not absorbed by the soil colloids and are mainly in solution. Such nutrient ions are absorbed by the roots along with soil water.
Cold water wash also physically removes many viruses. You want to debate the force of cavitation?
The second mechanism is mass flow or convection, which is considered to be the important mode of nutrient uptake. This mechanism relates to nutrient mobility with the movement of soil water towards the root surface where absorption through the roots takes place along with water. Some are called mobile nutrients. Others which move only a few millimetres are called immobile nutrients. Nutrient ions such as nitrate, chloride and sulphate, are not absorbed by the soil colloids and are mainly in solution. Such nutrient ions are absorbed by the roots along with soil water. The nutrient uptake through this mechanism is directly related to the amount of water used by the plants (transpiration). It may, however, be mentioned that the exchangeable nutrient cations and anions other than nitrate, chloride and sulphate, which are absorbed on soil colloids are in equilibrium with the soil solution do not move freely with water when it is absorbed by the plant roots.
But those are all minerals. No living organisms are taken up.
Many organic gardeners prefer to use manures instead of chemical fertilizers. Ferretti warns gardeners never to apply manure after crops have been planted. "Manure is home to many food-borne pathogens such as E. coli 0157: H7, and bacteria can be spread to the vegetables by rain, watering or by the gardener," he says. "If you use manure, it should always be applied the previous fall, to give it a chance to break down within the soil."
The main thing about that report that stuck in my memory, was the fact that the researchers found several different kinds of the polio virus in the water.
And why they drank lots of beer. Sans the hops (came from Holland later), though.
Not looking to debate. I just wanted to point out that you incorrectly wrote "bacteria", when you should have wrote "virus". I don't want there to be any misinformation out there, that's all.
Your welcome. There's a big difference between Hepatitis A and Hepatitis C. I just wanted to make sure that there wasn't any misleading or wrong information out there.
"The only trade-off is you have to eat fruits and veggies covered with their Hepatitis-ridden urine!"
Hepatitis A is not found in urine. Hepatitis A is transmitted through fecal(poop)-oral contact.
no hay mas chilis.
perdon, chilis si hay, chichis, no.
"In addition to hepatitis A and B, you have to worry about the various forms of e-coli."
You can't get Hepatitis B from lettuce. Hepatitis B is a sexually transmitted disease.
About E. coli Infections E. coli 0157:H7 (E. coli) infections can occur by eating meat contaminated during beef processing. Vegetables can also be carriers if they have absorbed E. coli from contaminated irrigation water or have been washed with contaminated water.
But this is through contact contamination, not through the same uptake mechanism as the plant has for minerals.
I would still worry about turning over plots of dirt in Europe for fear of re-exposing the Plaque.
Me too.
I understand perfectly. I grow my own leafy vegetables, for a variety of reasons.
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