
Research Shows Cattle Are
Infected With E. coli Mostly in SummerBy Ben Hardin March 20, 2000Read more about
recent ARS research to combat E. coli:
- Minimizing Microbes on
Fresh-Cut Foods (June 1999)
- Pasteurizing Manure(Sept. 1999)
- Keeping E. coli,
Parasites Out of Drinking Water (Nov. 1999)
- Carbonating Manure(Feb. 2000)
- Jellyfish Gene
Lights Up E. coli (Mar. 2000)
In late summer, up to 28 percent
of cattle entering processing plants may carry with them strains of the E.
coli bacterium that cause food poisoning in humans, according to an
Agricultural Research Service study. Improved laboratory methods allowed the scientists to ferret out the microbe
and detect this prevalence level, which is higher than previously reported. But
the research also showed that intervening measures at processing plants can
reduce the incidence of E. coli 0157:H7 on beef carcasses to less than 2
percent even in the peak contamination season of July and August. The study will be published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of
Sciences on March 28. The study, conducted by scientists at the ARS
Roman L. Hruska U.S. Meat Animal Research
Center (MARC), Clay Center, Neb., included examination of E. colished in the feces of live cattle as well as microbes on beef carcasses in
commercial processing plants. During the summer E. coli peak, 28 percent of the live cattle
entering the processing plants were actively shedding E. coli 0157:H7 in
their feces and 43 percent of 341 carcasses were initially contaminated with
the bacterium. Eleven percent of hide surfaces were also contaminated with the
bacterium. After processing was complete, only six of 330 carcasses, or 1.8
percent, showed some level of contamination. ARS is the USDA's chief scientific agency. Scientific contact: Danny B. Laster, ARS
Roman L. Hruska U.S. Meat Animal Research
Center, Clay Center, Neb., phone (402) 762-4109, fax (701) 762-4111,
[email protected]. U.S. Department of Agriculture |