California Department of Fish and Game Asks Hunters to Help Track <em>E. coli</em>

The California Department of Fish and Game wants hunters in San Benito, Monterey and San Luis Obispo counties to collect colon samples from any elk, deer or pigs they kill and return them to one of three Monterey County drop-off locations.

As part of a study by the University of California, Davis, the department wants to gather 2,400 samples from animals over the next two years to see how prevalent E. coli O157:H7 is in the environment and wildlife, said Terry Palmisano, senior wildlife biologist with the department.

That type of E. coli has caused hundreds of illnesses and deaths in food-borne outbreaks, the most devastating linked to Central Coast spinach in 2006. In that outbreak, government scientists found the matching strain of E. coli O157:H7 at a San Benito County ranch and suspect wild pigs may have spread the bacteria through a spinach field, but they could not prove their theory.

Palmisano said the samples are expected to lead to scientific findings that will either support or invalidate new food safety rules Salinas Valley growers operate under. The rules often require growers to keep all wildlife out of their fields, but there is little or no scientific evidence showing a link between wildlife and E. coli O157:H7 contamination, Palmisano said.

Source: The Californian