The specific strain of the E coli bacteria 0157:H7 isolated in the outbreak was linked to the Paicines Ranch, in the river water, cattle manure and wild pig manure samples taken from the ranch.
I don't understand the science of it but, apparently, all E coli 0157:H7 bacteria are not identical & the investigators have methods to further isolate & identify substrains.
Reading through the entire report, I don’t see where they even considered the workers as a possibility of contagion. Shouldn’t they have tested the workers to see if they carried the same strain of E. Coli ? Just because it was found in nearby pastures doesn’t mean it didn’t also exist elsewhere, right ? Sounds like sloppy science for reasons of political correctness.