essie your comment reminds me to the reported attitudes that many had circa 1900. 95% was known and 5% unknown. At least we know today that it is the other way around.

If you want to know why this little boy died, watch the video/movie "Food Inc" it is sooooo important that you all know what is going on with your food and how it is processed. Please watch this video as soon as you can. It can probably be downloaded on Utube. Another video you need to watch is "Forks over Knives" Just watch it. Then you will know why this little boy died of E-Coli. In "Food Inc" a mother from the Food Safety Council, was advocated on behalf of her now deceased 4 year old child. Hamburger and meat is not the only producer of E-Coli. It comes from Spinach and other foods! ALERT!
Food Industry is monopolized by a small amount of Corporations. They produce and manage much of the safety requirements...

Listen: Please watch the video "Food, Inc: .Another video is called "Forks over Knives"

If you want to know why this little boy died of E-Coli, as well as the the mother of a 4 year old boy

who is featured in this movie, who is a member of the Food Safety Council, PLEASE ALL MOTHERS, WATCH THIS MOVIE. Most food is mass produced. There is a small monopoly of huge corporations, (Tyson, Perdue, etc) producing, overseeing, and poloticking all safety regulations (the very producers of these foods are also traced back to the regulations/ or non-regulations, there in. Most people are completely in the dark of what happens to the food they eat and how it is produced. It is a horror story for sure. Although I am not a vegetarian, just an informed consumer, I now am looking very seriously at the larger picture. We don't need to see more children or people die of dirty, food forced animal production, cruel treatment of animals AS WELL AS CRUEL TREATMENT OF LOW PAID, BUSSED IN WORKERS! WAKE UP AMERICA. I WISH NANCY GRACE WOULD TAKE THIS ONE ON! SHE COULD CHANGE THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT.

Unfortunately, Nancy Grace is part of the media and often looked upon as a loon - look what happened to Oprah when she merely mentioned something about not eating a hamburger - the Cattlemen's Association took her on! (She won, but only after spending millions of dollars) - it all comes down to MONEY and GREED. I often wonder how the executives of these disgusting firms and companies sleep at night. I'm sure they might have a different view if one of their children contracted E-Coli or Salmonella. Not only does this make me sad, but it makes me angry that such a sweet healthy little boy could be taken from his wonderful family because our food system is so screwed up in the country.

Outdoor picnic pink slime do the math

Vegan for a Reason - You're assuming that this little boy got the infection from beef. He could have gotten it from Lettuce or Spinach or Sprouts or other produce... He could have gotten it from a restaurant employee not washing his hands... there are many different ways he could have gotten it. That's kind of the point of the article, they don't KNOW how he got it.

Any time a child dies like this is a tradgedy and my heart goes out to the family. I can't imagine how painful this is for them. I hope for their sake that they are able to get some closure on this.

@lies by the food industries. Aptly named.

It's interesting the demonization that people sprout about corporations, the word itself has almost become synonymous with evil. It should be noted however that big business has one objective in mind- The bottom line. Therefore killing off its consumers with tainted meat isn't normally a goal they strive for, that would be as they say "bad for business". I see no harm in allowing business create the safety regulations for short term health of their products.

The only regulation that is required from an outside source comes into play with long term worker safety, environmental concerns, and long term public health. As these issues have minimal influence on the bottom line and thus minimal influence on the company to self enforce.

To sum it all up, saying that you should watch this movie or any other thing to see how this boy met his end is a complete fallacy.

hungry,

Guess you failed biology...E. coli is a bacterium with a scientific name E. (genus) coli (species)

Viruses are not alive and completely different from bacteria...do some research.

Genus BTW = Escherichia To all: every wonder why you do not see small pox, a horrible disease and major killer. Immunization has eradicated small pox from the planet. Ditto polio. If you were bitten by a rabid dog, would you seek treatment, or just let nature take its course. How about that crafty old bubonic plague? Goodness, what ever happened to that, or Yelllow Fever, or ________— (just fill in the blank).

My gratitude to Louise Pasteur.

@Jdoo61

Viruses are somewhat of a grey area of life, as there is no general consensus between the scientific community on whether they're the simplest of organisms or a complex glob of organic molecules (dna or rna surrounded by a protein shell.) They exist in two states, virions which can be seen as a dormant state of inactivity and virus. Virions generally remain dormant until they come into contact with a suitable host at which point they become classified as a virus and display many of the traits we attribute to life. In that they begin to react and adapt to their environment and self replicate. Even so, they lack any real metabolic functions.

Saying they're not alive then, is not entirely true. It could be argued either way and is the reason why there is no consensus on the matter. You are correct however that they're vastly different from bacteria.

Yes, this form of E. coli is spread mostly through food supplies -- both animal and vegetable, but this is also a strain of E. coli that can be transmitted by pet turtles. That's why it's illegal to sell pet turtles with shells less than 4 inches in length. Most are bought from unscrupulous street vendors at fairs and other outdoor activities.

Actually, if you go to the CDC site (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - just Google it), in their Morbidity and Mortality weekly section, they will give you great information on all the outbreaks of illnesses in this country. You can learn much about pathogens and their spread.

William,

I teach Biology and even after 28 years, these are the characteristics of living things and they have not changed. The characteristics of a living thing (and an organism must show ALL these characteristics in order to be considered living) are: 1. Made of cells, 2. show organization and homeostasis - a stable internal environment, 3. be able to grow, 4. be able to reproduce on their own (asexual reproduction) or with a partner (sexual reproduction), 5. react to stimuli, 6. acquire and metabolize nutrients and 7. as a species, evolve. Viruses can do some of these things, but not ALL of them, so therefore they are still not considered a living organism.

Yvonne,

There are several bacteria which do not meet all your requirements, but science generalizes them as alive.

This is why there is still some debate on the matter.

Personally I'm so sick seeing and hearing comments corporations and the food industry. Seriously its a bunch of vegetarians and animal rights people trying to convience the world that all these companies are out to get them. Thats bull sh*t and you know it. Seriously what is this world coming to. People are saying "thats why i don't eat meat".... well guess what people meat isn't the only thing that can carry E.coli. there have been cases linked to vegtables also. So plant eaters aren't safe either. People need to quit being so ignorant and do some research on things like this instead of just watching a YouTube video on food inc. and believeing everything you see or the news tells you. As far as "lies by the food industries" for you to come on here and say why this poor little kid died... thats very disrespectful and you need to learn when to keep your mouth shut. Its people like you that are making our country the way it is.

William,

Can you give me an example? I know that Domain Bacteria, Kingdom Bacteria and Domain Archaea, Kingdom Archaebacteria both consist of prokaryotic cells that show all the characterisitics of life listed above. Most pathogenic bacteria fall under the first Domain because Domain Archaea contain organisms that mostly live in severe environmental climates -- halophiles, thermophiles, extreme anaerobes, etc. and could never survive in anything so mild as the human body. Please let me know what bacterial groups you are refering to so I can look them up and learn something new.

Yvonne,

Yes, give me a minute to find the paper on the matter.

Yvonne,

Rickettsia (The argument here is that while they do posses a cell wall and structure they depend upon host cells to survive and replicate.)
Various Intracellular parasites,( i.e Chlamydia which do not possess a clearly defined cell structure. )
Mycoplasma's (Also do not posses cell walls..)

There are probably others, and your knowledge on the subject matter is greater than mine. This paper was written on the very topic for virus classification one way or the other. It seems it's mostly just semantics, but I could see why scientific classification is important.

Hello William,

It was good of you to give me the information. I think the one thing we have a bit of a debate on is whether or not a virus is living. I can assure you it is not. Anything from single celled bacteria to multicellular organisms are living, but a virus still is considered non-living because it does not show all of the characteristics of living things.

I got a chance to look up information about all three organisms and found out that all three are considered bacterial species and therefore living things, but they are obligate parasites -- they must infect another cell in order to survive so the only way they can live is to move from cell to cell, organism to organism as opposed to facultative parasites that can live for a short time with whatever nutrition they had before they could move onto a new host.

Of the 3 you mentioned, here is what I found out about them:

1. Made of cells -- All 3 are made of cells, they all have cell membranes although not all of them have cell walls made of peptidoglycan, the more common cell wall material for bacterial cells. A virus is nothing more than a nucleic acid (RNA or DNA) wrapped in a protein coat, sometimes with a capsule covered with recognition protein knobs. Viruses do not have any other components, cells have organelles.

2. Show organization and homeostasis - a stable internal environment -- All of them do have some of the characteristic of organization. Most bacteria have a cell membrane, a cell wall, nucleic acids with the ability to replicate themselves, and ribosomes that build proteins (although not the same type of ribosome you see in eukaryotic cells), and cytoplasm. But these cells do maintain their internal environment and are organized, even though they are not the same as other bacterial cells. Viruses do nothing to maintain a specific environment, they can live for years in a jar and initiate nothing on their own, but they can work if they are put in the correct environment.

3. Be able to grow -- all cells need to be able to grow once they have undergone mitosis and reach a full size. Yes, the obligate parasites do need to be endosymbiotic (living within another cell), but once they are in a cell, they can replicate for themselves. A virus can live for years on a shelf with nothing, but as soon as they are in a suitable environment, they can use their nucleic acid to turn the cell they have infected into a virus factory. The virus itself does not reproduce, the virus converts the living cell into a virus replication factory. There is the difference between a living thing that initiates its own reproduction and a virus factory in this case.

4. Be able to reproduce on their own (asexual reproduction) or with a partner (sexual reproduction) -- obviously, these three cells you mention must live in another cell and get nutrition from it, but the three bacteria: Rickettsia, Chlamydia and the Mycoplasms do asexual reproduction. They all grow to a certain size, replicate their DNA, build all the other things they need for their new life as two cells -- ribosomes, cytoplasm, proteins, etc. and then the cell divides by binary fission. These bacteria do not force their host to make copies of the invader cells like a virus does.

5. React to stimuli -- if the host cell gets sick, don't you think the bacteria won't move on to a better place? The only way viruses can do this is when the host cell is eventually used up and dies. The cell wall and membrane breaks open and new virus particles are released to infect new living cells. Viruses cannot initiate their own movement to a new host.

6. Acquire and metabolize nutrients -- how else can they survive unless they "eat" (relative term based on how they get their nutrition). They get their nutrients from the host cell obviously, but still as living things. Viruses on the other had do not need nutrition. Again they can live on a shelf in a jar for years and nothing will phase them. They only work if they get in the right cell. Don't get me wrong -- not all viruses are that tough (HIV being the prime example of a very fragile virus), but all of them must have another living thing to play host to their virus factory ways.

7. As a species, evolve. This is where I think both bacteria and viruses can do the same things. Viruses as well as bacteria have changed their DNA/RNA and have evolved. Bacterial cells, including the three you mentioned show all of the above characteristics, but viruses do not, so therefore viruses are still not considered a living organism.

William it has been great debating with you, and I hope to see you on another newsvine someday, but I have to leave -- have a meeting at 5:00 pm. Sorry this post is so long, but I want to try and be as accurate as I can about my passion as a Biology Teacher. Peace to you and yours!

It makes me wander that when they grow this @!$%# up in the lab to control world population overages, they would at least hide the strains ID Numbers in the mix so they couldn't be unidentified so easily? I was trying to remember the latest one they cooked up in the lab here recently and boasted about it on CNN on how deadly it would be to the public if it,"GOD FORBID", somehow ever got released, but the terminology they used to identify it eludes me. Mmmmmm? Oh Well! As long as it works is all that's important I suppose..............

Yvonne,

Great post, and while my wielding of matters related to biology fail me to be able to debate you effectively, I find your post very insightful and truly enjoyed the fun and thought provoking stimuli it has had on me and hopefully others.

I think it mainly boils down to either a rigid or flexible view on the discipline of biology. Biology by its nature is very diverse.

Let's take your example of how virus can set dormant on a shelf for thousands of years. The same can be said of seeds of plants which remain dormant until proper conditions for germination are obtained; some as wildly strange as requiring ingestion by mammal to strip the seed wall via acidic abrasion. While some argue that seeds are living, I see them as having the possibility of producing life not in and of themselves alive. The same could be said of virions, they require certain stimulate to become active and begin to reproduce. Do they then meet all the other classic definitions of life? No, you're right they don't, but they do have several of the very important qualities we equate to it. Does this make them truly alive? No. Does this then make them purely organic machines? Not quite true either. I suppose it's just easier for me to take a flexible approach and say that it's a grey area between organic machine and truly living organism.

Btw, you must have a great deal of patience after teaching for so many years, it's commendable.

Beyond the semantics of what we classify as life though, such things are very important to debate. Further study on what effects if any a virus has on life beyond forcing adaptations similar to mechanics of other inorganic matter is important. Equating a virus to the evolutionary terms of things like geographical location or climate shifts is inherently false. They play much larger roles I believe.

Also being able to classify life neatly is very important in astrobiology, as in we need to know what it is in order to find it. and even on the macro scale there are several organism which deify our classic idea's of life.

Btw, you must have a great deal of patience after teaching for so many years, it's commendable.

Thought I left the last part out, so I edited it in there twice hahaha.

William Bentley--glad to see your definition of alive "while they possess a cell wall and structure they depend on the host cells to survive and replicate.

:)

Best PRO choice argument I've heard in a while!

All you GOP voters out there need to know that many of the food safety regulations will be repealed if they take control of white house and the congress. And since these folks have so much integrity, they will just make up a different reality to suit themselves in order to confuse and mislead the American public. Really, I am a reformed Republican - the party has gone to hell in a handbasket.

All you GOP voters out there need to know that many of the food safety regulations will be repealed if they take control of white house and the congress. And since these folks have so much integrity, they will just make up a different reality to suit themselves in order to confuse and mislead the American public. Really, I am a reformed Republican - the party has gone to hell in a handbasket.

Yeah I am sure all those little Republican E.coli bacteria are ready for that. Give it a rest, lady, last time I checked bacteria don't stop at party lines.

March 30, 2012, my 5 year old niece (one of identical twin girls) faced this mysterious illness and after two months, is still dependent on dialysis.

My heart goes out to this family because at the end of March my family faced an almost exact replica of this child's illness; unfortunately, Owen's illness ended with devastating consequences.

Like Owen, my twin nieces, Mattie and Macie were healthy, bubbly children, prior to this illness, until March 30 when Mattie got sick, and just as this little boy, the illness was mysterious and at first acted like a typical childhood viral infection. However, after one trip to the local emergency room and then another trip a day later, she was rushed to the University Medical Center in Jackson, MS, literally fighting for her life. Everything happened so fast.

Thankfully, the pediatric nephrologist at UMC lost no time in identifying why Mattie's kidneys were shutting down, and 6 days after the onset of the illness, the decision was made to do an emergency procedure to start immediate emergency dialysis after her creatine level reached 7.59 and her potassium level reached 99. This was a last desperate attempt to save Mattie's life.

Although the doctors assigned to the case were waiting for the Mississippi State Department's report on whether or not she tested positive for e-coli, they did not hesitate to begin aggressive treatment after observing her condition was deteriorating rapidly.

Ironically, both children's illnesses reached their peak the sixth day after the onset of the illness. It was on the sixth day that my niece had the emergency procedure to start aggressive treatment and dialysis in an attempt to save her life. The next day the state department came to the hospital and confirmed e-coli.

It is now June and she is still on dialysis, but thankfully, she is alive. We are very aware of how blessed we are.

(As a side note, I'm curious as to why Mississippi has not been added to the article that is investigating 14 cases of an e-coli outbreak in 6 states. For the record, they can make that "seven" states.)

If anyone is interested in knowing more about this case or perhaps you have some information that you think would be helpful to solve the mystery of this illness and perhaps what connection, if any there is between all the others, I would like to hear from you. Please email me at angelasandersadams@mac.com. Personally, I believe there is a connection between these cases, and I also believe there are more cases unreported, such as my niece.

My niece is very blessed to be alive, but she still is not out of danger. Every week we keep hoping and praying for a full recovery. At this point we do not know if she will be permanently on dialysis and/or if her kidneys will ever begin to regain function.

A detailed journal of Mattie's illness has been kept via Facebook. It started out as a way to keep family and friends posted on my niece's illness. Now, it has proven to be a detailed record that has been helpful in our own investigation of this mysterious illness.

There are so many questions that, so far. we have no answers. For example, why did her identical twin sister not get sick as well? Prior to this illness, the twins were inseparable and had never spent more than a few hours away from the other since their birth.

When my sister-in-law, Mom, and I read this story, it brought tears to our eyes, and it has been on our minds every day. Our community has been shaken with what has happened to my niece, much like the community of this seemingly healthy little boy.

I believe that some connection is out there and feel that sometimes we need to be pro-active, instead of waiting for someone else to make the link. If it will save one more life, then it will be worth the time it takes to find out why this has suddenly re-surfaced as a problem in the last three months.

I look forward to hearing from anyone who has ideas or who has any clues that perhaps might help connect these illnesses..... and to the Carnigan family, words cannot express how sad we are to find Owen's illness ended in the ultimate tragedy. For anyone interested in our story please contact me at angelasandersadams@mac.com

Do you honestly believe that the CDC doesn't keep track of that information?

That's exactly what the CDC does, it counts numbers and keeps track... after the fact. That's all well and good but it is not a preventative organization. More likely the CDC can prevent future events that are like those that might have occured.

Meanwhile, people with immune systems that can't take the harsh environment of processed foods and life... will die. That's just how life is, we have predator bacteria and virus that want to kill us... daily.

They are already doing that anyway but yt have not found a leading cause for human death....

E-coli is a terrifying disease. It is amazing how fast it can destroy the body. I had a ferret who got E-coli from some Chew sticks I bought her at Petco. It was disturbing watching my poor pet (within hours) collapse and start bleeding.

E-coli attacks the organs, and the younger the victim usually the worst that they fair. My son's friend also was part of the E-coli scare from the Jack in the Box years ago. He still bears the scars on his kidneys and organs.

This is all preventable. Stronger safety food laws and inspections, would help a great deal. After my ferret had gotten sick, I got on the Recall site and was shocked at just how many food items and such are on recall daily. To me this is unacceptable and needs stronger regulation. Food bourne illnesses are preventable, and the damage they do to the human and pet body is irreversible.

i agree with you completely. unfortunately many of the people who produce this unregulated food are also on the regulatory and safety committees.Foods are monopolized with strict monitoring of what the public can know. In addition, if any factories do not do exactly as they are told, they suddenly lose their contracts with these large buyers; and you have to watch the movie "Food Inc." see if you can watch it on u-tube otherwise look it up on line. you will be shocked. it was an eye opener for me. e-coli is not just a hamburger or meat or chicken issue. Many of the vegetables that are also mass produced by sub standard safety regulations are also carriers.Due to the large mass production of products by the food industry, and speeding up production of foods by steroids, food fillers, forced feedings, additives and all kinds of things..... its horrible what goes into our bodies,without us even knowing it and now hearing about your ferret... this is much bigger.
Many times i would eat a steak and then feel very fuzzy in my mind and also my eyesight seemed a little bit worse. Now I get it. Whoa! Scary.

And lucky for us, many states are now being influenced by threats from Monsanto to not pass bills to declare whether or not Genetically Modified Ingredients are in our food. There is no corporate responsibility taking place, nor is the government doing anything about it!

Corporate America and the government are the same organization.

The fact they could produce what most call pink slime itroduce it to our food supply and keep it a secret for over ten years is frightening. Also the fact that radiation is used to keep the shelf life of food high without the public having knowledge of its use makes one wonder just what else is in your food. Since they have used propoganda to convince a lot of people that unions are bad which is not in their best interest anything today is possible since one of our political parties is just a bunch of stooges for big business.

Has anyone checked the school lunchroom. Maybe it was something he ate at school since it was before the 20th.

If I remeber my microbiology correctly - and I am pretty sure I do - strains of E. coli are found in each of our guts, it is normal human intestinal flora, without it and the other flora in your intectines you would have other health issues.

GMO has nothing to do with this strain of E. coli so in this case blaming Monsanto is just that a blame game. Though I do think labeling GMO's should be required, and at the same time we all need educations as to the pros and cons of genetic modified organisms.

Also, having worked in the food industry for years, I would challenge you all before you blame the food industry ask yourselves the following - short of living on a farm or in farm country - are you willing to pay higher prices for your food, not get strwberries (an example) year round, not have your steak or fresh fish on demand. If you are more power to you but I would bet most of you are unwilling to give up what you want. Is the food industry perfect - no - but most companies and most people whos jobs focus on quality and food safety would much rather not see headlines like this. I now expect to b e attacked by all you anti industry folks out there -

Yes, the CDC does do epidemiolgic surveillance when they find evidence of an outbreak. There is a strict protocol concerning their investigation and yes, often times it seems as though they are "backtracking" to find the source of infection, but if they learned where the source is, then they can move forward and bring the carrier under control and determine when the contamination went from there.

As an example, a friend of mine worked at the State Board of Health as a Dairy inspector. She was on a vacation day when a call came in that one of her inspection dairies had a mass poisoning of cattle from pesticide treated hay. Her supervisor -- a man who had not been in the field for many years did not call her in, ignored protocol and tried to do damage control himself. Because of his ineptitude, the milk was already in production. By the time she was called in to actually control the situation, the milk from those contaminated cows had already reached the dairy mixed with all the milk from other dairy farms and had been pasteurized and bottled. Not only that, but the cream had gone to the ice cream factory, the buttermilk had gone to the salad dressing bottler and the milk solids had already gone into cottage cheese production.

Needless to say, many hundreds of thousands of dollars of product was condemned and destroyed. Luckily they had caught it in time before it had gone out on the shelves. The supervisor got a quiet reprimand, was forced to apologize for his actions, but kept his job. My friend couldn't stomach the fact that everything was swept under the rug and resigned. She now works in the lab at the dairy the contamination milk first came into. You better believe she is their most consciencious and careful of all the employees.

To LU:

I have to say, I agree.

To scales67: It is comforting to think these things are meticulously recorded, but after my nieces' illness, I have to side with LU...... How many more are out there who are now on dialysis or died from this illness, and they never even showed up on the "radar"?

This is from my earlier post on another section of this blog:

March 30, 2012, my 5 year old niece (one of identical twin girls) faced this mysterious illness and after two months, is still dependent on dialysis.

My heart goes out to this family because at the end of March my family faced an almost exact replica of this child's illness; unfortunately, Owen's illness ended with devastating consequences.

Like Owen, my twin nieces, Mattie and Macie were healthy, bubbly children, prior to this illness, until March 30 when Mattie got sick, and just as this little boy, the illness was mysterious and at first acted like a typical childhood viral infection. However, after one trip to the local emergency room and then another trip a day later, she was rushed to the University Medical Center in Jackson, MS, literally fighting for her life. Everything happened so fast.

Thankfully, the pediatric nephrologist at UMC lost no time in identifying why Mattie's kidneys were shutting down, and 6 days after the onset of the illness, the decision was made to do an emergency procedure to start immediate emergency dialysis after her creatine level reached 7.59 and her potassium level reached 99. This was a last desperate attempt to save Mattie's life.

Although the doctors assigned to the case were waiting for the Mississippi State Department's report on whether or not she tested positive for e-coli, they did not hesitate to begin aggressive treatment after observing her condition was deteriorating rapidly.

Ironically, both children's illnesses reached their peak the sixth day after the onset of the illness. It was on the sixth day that my niece had the emergency procedure to start aggressive treatment and dialysis in an attempt to save her life. The next day the state department came to the hospital and confirmed e-coli.

It is now June and she is still on dialysis, but thankfully, she is alive. We are very aware of how blessed we are.

(As a side note, I'm curious as to why Mississippi has not been added to the article that is investigating 14 cases of an e-coli outbreak in 6 states. For the record, they can make that "seven" states.)

If anyone is interested in knowing more about this case or perhaps you have some information that you think would be helpful to solve the mystery of this illness and perhaps what connection, if any there is between all the others, I would like to hear from you. Please email me at angelasandersadams@mac.com. Personally, I believe there is a connection between these cases, and I also believe there are more cases unreported, such as my niece.

My niece is very blessed to be alive, but she still is not out of danger. Every week we keep hoping and praying for a full recovery. At this point we do not know if she will be permanently on dialysis and/or if her kidneys will ever begin to regain function.

A detailed journal of Mattie's illness has been kept via Facebook. It started out as a way to keep family and friends posted on my niece's illness. Now, it has proven to be a detailed record that has been helpful in our own investigation of this mysterious illness.

There are so many questions that, so far. we have no answers. For example, why did her identical twin sister not get sick as well? Prior to this illness, the twins were inseparable and had never spent more than a few hours away from the other since their birth.

When my sister-in-law, Mom, and I read this story, it brought tears to our eyes, and it has been on our minds every day. Our community has been shaken with what has happened to my niece, much like the community of this seemingly healthy little boy.

I believe that some connection is out there and feel that sometimes we need to be pro-active, instead of waiting for someone else to make the link. If it will save one more life, then it will be worth the time it takes to find out why this has suddenly re-surfaced as a problem in the last three months.

I look forward to hearing from anyone who has ideas or who has any clues that perhaps might help connect these illnesses..... and to the Carnigan family, words cannot express how sad we are to find Owen's illness ended in the ultimate tragedy. For anyone interested in our story please contact me at angelasandersadams@mac.com

Sadly, Elizabeth some patients experience what we call in nursing as Multi-organ failure which means its a bit too late to start dialysis. Eventhough, this situation is heart wrenching I am happy that the parents of this child did not keep him alive eventhough his body was dying. In the ICU's in situations such as this families are holding on to their loved one instead of thinking of their loved one. I am speaking as a mother and a healthcare professional I rather say my good-byes and begin the grieving process than allow my child's body to deteriorate in front of my eyes. Im more than sure the unit taking care of this little boy did everything they could to save his life..I know Ive been there and when you done everything and the patient dies you grieve with the families..and Im an experience Trauma ICU Nurse.

Sometime it become to late and it also depends on the body itself how well it can adjust quick to different meds....

Jay You have hit on a very important aspect of healthcare...

...in situations such as this families are holding on to their loved one instead of thinking of their loved one.

However I think that this notion is much more prevalent than you suggest. On average, are not medical costs in ones last year of life figured at being about 40% of their overall medical costs? This leads me to believe that this attitude is a prime driver of our increased health care costs.

"too late"? I wonder if he just deteriorated before the doctors felt he needed more aggressive treatment or he was brought in after failure?

Silymarin is a synthesized chemical based off of an active component in Milk Thistle seeds. In Europe it is used as a treatment for mushroom poisoning which primarily attacks the livers function. Renal and hepatic toxins arent treated the same way. If my memory serves me correct about HUS, the problem is multifaceted. There's the destruction of the blood cells which fragment and put more toxins into the blood stream. This in it self causes anemia (which results in failure of the organs due to the bloods' ability to bring food and remove waste to the systems of the body). The secondary issue is the waste, toxins and cell fragments from the destroyed blood cells. They clog and destroy the kidneys abilities to filter the blood. That's it in a nutshell. As was previously stated, the result is simultaneous systemic multiorgan failure. So many bad things happening at the same time, the body just can't keep up (nor can a machine).

My take on this unfortunate incident is this; Microbes will always win. Microbes are the oldest living organisms on this planet. They are small, simple and can easily adapt. We on the other hand are large, and complex and do not adapt so quickly. A certain ratio of fatalities is expected before our bodies adapt to the new threat. Yes science can help reduce the ratio of fatalities, but it takes time, money, and effort. Even so it will only reduce the numbers, never eliminate them entirely. The lesson that should be taken from it is that people die. Good people die, young healthy people die. It's not necessarily anyones fault, it just happens. Bacteria and other microbes are ubiquitous in our environment. They will never be eliminated, and the sooner we accept they are a part of life, the better off we will be. Just like physical hazards, exposure can be reduced but never eliminated.

For information: E-Coli is not a disease or a toxin; It is a bacteria. This bacteria is present in feces. That is why you have to wash hands after going to the restroom. If yo go and get out hands unwashed, you can get the bacteria to spread via handshakes, or crosscontamination of objects. If someone with his/her dirty hands did a handshake to this kid, or touched food he later consumed, or touched anuthing the boy later put in his mouth (hands inlcuded), then, the E-Coli could have entered his body. This (HUS) is not a wait out disease, it DESTROYS your internal organs, specially if you are a child. It is gross to se so many people just walk out of the restrooms and go directly to the food bar....

I don't believe anybody in this thread said it was a "disease". HUS (which the article implies is what ultimately killed this child) is a disease process caused by a bacterium. Yes the bacteria known as Escherichia Coli is present in feces. It is also present in soil, and bodies of water as well. Therefore you can get it by playing in the dirt, a round of golf,eating earthworms, drinking water from a well, swimming in a swimming hole, eating hamburgers, eating vegetables, picking up a muddy shovel, laying in the grass, hugging a farmer, kissing a horse, etc. etc. It isnt specific to human feces. So unless you plan on reducing you activies to living in a sterile plastic bag, you may as well get used to hearing about E.Coli infections, and ultimately people succumbing to them.

As far as being gross to watch people go "directly from a bathroom to a food bar", Im not so sure what's so gross about it. There are sinks in bathrooms specifially for hand washing. So unless I am to intimately follow people around to ensure their hygiene practices (which is a little weird in itself) I can only hope they took the time to wash. Going from a "bathroom to a food bar" doesnt automatically mean they didnt wash their hands and use a paper towel to open the door.

I actually enjoyed reading your posts Pablo.

One very important thing that is being overlooked in this discussion (or perhaps I just didn't see it), is that E. coli CANNOT originate from vegetables! Vegetables, spinach is a popular example, can become contaminated (on the surface) by fertilizer comprised of cow feces or from cross-contamination (during processing, packaging, preparation at a restaurant, etc.) and thus carry E. coli, but the same could be said of your own skin, and usually proper washing would eliminate the problem (you cannot wash it out of ground beef, though!) Poor agricultural practices (aka factory farming) is entirely to blame for situations like this. Greed, namely.

Or it can originate in the soil, without the addition of any fertilizer.
Actually E. coli also exists in your stomach, on your skin (Even after washing by the way) in the stomachs of basically a slew of other mammals. It has little to do with poor husbandry.

As much as I dislike the corporate food machine, I can't see any indication in this story where this lad was stricken specifically by a E.Coli that was foodborne. They said it was possibly foodborne, or cross contamination. The first part being "possibly". The second part being "cross contamination". Well, cross contamination from what? To jump out and automatically blame the Giant Evil Overlord Monsanto for this childs death is nothing more than spreading hysterical hyperbole. CDC is still investigating and by their own admission state that often they never DO find the cause (as they are so numerous to rule out) in isolated cases like this. There are a lot of good debates based on good science and facts on this thread. On the other hand, there is a lot of hysterical paranoid crazy rambling too. Don't be a crazy hysterical paranoid rambler... get direct TV.. juust kidding.

To Pablo and Mr. Bentley - my compliments. Intelligent, informed opinions, based on fact and science and not on hysteria and prejudices. That really is so rare, not only on "Newsvine" but in this country. So thanks to both of you for weighing in. Wouldn't it be nice if we taught science in our schools?

Well said, Oldefarte!! Kudos to Pablo and Bentley as well.

There are usually multiple sides to every story, and there is a kernel of truth in most. I enjoy civil intelligent fact based discussion on issues. To agree or disagree, that's not the point. The point is to openly discuss things and make your own choices. Sometimes youre going to be wrong, sometimes youre going to be right.. I disparage paranoid, unintelligent ramblings based on ill conceived arguments. I'm no rocket scientist, but some of the stuff I see people post is pretty disheartening. I'm just waiting for somebody to blame it all on Hitler, Nazism, the Taliban the POTUS or all of the above..

Many people develop e'coli and aren't even aware they have it, many people barely get a swirly stomach and diahrea and their body fights it off. The next person can get the exact same thing and experience organ failure.

At first a patient with e'coli is on nothing more than hydration and pain control. Antibiotics acutally make the condition worse and are against protocol.

Most e'coli patients never develop HUS which is an organ failure condition caused by the toxins that e'coli produces. HUS patients are a very small percentage of all e'coli patients.

A patient does begin dialysis when they develop HUS, but often times this is not enough. The other tragedy is that this condition often produces neurologic damage despite dialysis. Dialysis simply treats kidney failure, not the other effects of the e'coli toxins in the body.

2 yrs ago my daughter caught e'coli at her birthday party. Turns out it came from a friend who had it, but was not really ill, just had a case of diahrea. She developed HUS, had dialysis, eventually kidney function returned, but has been left with severe damage and does not lead a normal life. She is 13 and has a very limited life. Like a car accident, one day she was normal and the next she is not.

E.coli as everyone noted is a bacteria, but the illness is not truly an infection - the symptoms are not caused by an attach on the bacteria by our immune system but rather caused by a toxin prodced by the E.coli once it hits our gut. Most E. coli illness is relatively minor (diarrhea, etc) but as Heidi pointed out what can be minor in one individual is not minor in another. It is also much harder on the young and the older folks.

While we are all blaming what this kid ate - did anyone look into had he been swimming - E. coli can be transmitted by water - so if he had been swimming where people or animals may have defecated in the water he coulod have gotten it that way. It was last summer that I kept reading warnings to paretns not to let their toddlers in public pools until they were toilet trained and out of diapers. Or what about a home pool.

It wasn't on my list until this article. That list just keeps getting longer.:( These poor parents, I cannot even imagine.

So processed foods are out. Meat is out. Raw foods such as lettuce, spinich, etc. are out. Oy.

Laura,

So what's left? Starve to death?

I say we all quit worrying about it, and lead normal lives.

I agree. Use common sense.

Eliminating entire food groups is overreacting.

Wash your hands and wash your food and cook it thoroughly and don't worry about it.

You're going to kill yourself from malnutrition before you die from bacteria or virus.

someone forgot to tell that 6 year old boy that...cows are fed corn..corn is not what cows eat..they eat grass. ecoli in the gut is not killed and then you have another child killed. but americans being who they are will allow this and not do a thing.

I bet all these people talking about how bad our food is still go to Mcdonalds and get them a big old greasy cheeseburger and fries. Maybe these people need to go to a third world country where they would have to starve for a while and diseases run rampid. It's terrible this boy died but how many of these deaths happen? Not many, that's why when one does happen it's a big deal. The U.S.A. has the best and safest food in the world. People that know nothing about agriculture believe anything the read or hear. I farm and have cattle and also am a certified crop advisor and i've seen organic farms that can't grow anything. If people had to depend on organic farms everyone would go to bed hungry. Most case of salmonnella and e coli come from organic farms. I work hard to produce food for people and it strikes a nerve when i see people bashing what i do.

Well put cropman. It appears as though everyone else commenting believes that their food magically comes from the grocery store! Very good point about organic having more opportunity to be packing bacteria, since they only fertizilize with "natural" products aka manure, it is much more likely for the food to become contaminated.

@James

No, the cow's normal diet did not include corn or other meal. Corn was developed in respones to, and as a way to allow more heads of cattle on less land, a surplus of corn during WWII and a cheap reliable way to fatten cows up to slaughter weight sooner. Although not all of Americans beef is fed corn or other meals, a majority are over the other two prevailing methods or raising cattle. It is after all our most abundant foodstuff.

Now E. Coli is about 80% more prevalent in grain only cows other then pasture cows, and due to grains acidic nature it does manage to change the ph in the cows stomach and thus create the acid resistant strain that can pass through the human stomach and cause infection. The caveat to this is that it has also been shown that switching grain fed cattle over to grass only up to a few weeks before slaughter can rebalance out the stomach ph and decrease the prevalence of E. Coli about 80%, or back to normal levels. This is to my knowledge how things are done in the US.

Organic farming practices typically use fertilizer based on COMPOSTED manure. There's a difference. You put straight manure on a garden patch and it will die. Nitrogen content is too high among other things. That being said, after I pull my naturally fertilized vegetable out of my garden I don't drag them through feces on the processing floor, then toss them into a bucket being sent to make ground vegetable matter. I dont water my garden from a pond that is filled from untreated dairy/feedlot runoff either.

In regards to previous statements questioning the success of organic farming being viable. Nobody is saying Organic is the end all answer. I am saying that sustainable farming practices would go a long way in reducing some of the issues we have. I choose to buy local just like a lot of folks. I could easily go down to my Mega Giant grocery store and buy factory farmed products. I choose not to. It isnt right or wrong, it's just how I choose to live. I have heard farmers talk about efficiency in theor operations. There's a big difference in their end goals. For some it's necessary to keep their smaller operations sustainable so they can make a living. In respect to Giant Mega Farm Company it seems like it always boils down to cheaper to produce equates to higher profit margin. Never mind if the end product has some issues or the process is unhealthy for those around them. I mean, theyre only people.

Pablo - I am trying to think of a food plant that processes meat and vegetables in the same facility. I commend your choice to shop local etc, and since you brought up profits, the profit margin in most food processing businesses is around 3% where say the profit margin on an iPad is around 25%. AS I have already said the last thing a food processor or any of their employees want is to make their customers sick. Up until your comment "Never mind if the end product has some issues or the process is unhealthy for those around them. I mean, theyre only people." It is just not true.

It was a comparison to Jreeds statement regarding manure use for organic farming.

" Very good point about organic having more opportunity to be packing bacteria, since they only fertizilize with "natural" products aka manure, it is much more likely for the food to become contaminated."

I believe he was correlalting vegetables grown in manure versus meat exposed to fecal matter. Just a guess, but thats what I took from the statement.

I wasnt implying that meat and produce are processed in the same facility. I was stating that while I use composted manure (not straight fresh manure), I dont expose my vegetables (nor do most organic and sustainable farm operators) to fresh fecal matter. As a matter of circumstance in processing meat, it gets exposed to fecal matter during the process. Feces spill on the floor, the animals carry it on their feet. While I understand processors do not want to sicken people (I mean, to what end really), it essentially is a factory of sirts. If there is a heavy workload, workers or operators can make mistakes. Things happen. Sometimes it is through a series of little issues that go unnoticed.

I just disagree with the perception that Organic producers are anymore apt to cause disease than factory farms. The perception that all organic and sustainable agriculture producers are a bunch of barefoot hippies crapping in their fields to produce bug riddin scrawny products is just as false as the statements that so anger Cropman. I fight fire for a living and provide Emergency medical Services. In my line of work there is an inherent risk and danger. I accept it as part of the job. When I don't do my job (even a seemingly little thing) people can die. If people in the Agricultural industry do something wrong(even a little thing) people can get sick or die. Does every firefighter take their job as seriously as me? Nope. Most do. Does every farmer or processor take their job as seriosuly as Cropman? Nope, but I imagine most do. It's that little minority that ruins it for the rest. It's those little things that add up and eventually cause the whole thing to come crashing down. Of course it doesnt help that the media overinflates every remotely related case, inciting hate and discontent. I have family and close friends who farm. I get it, I truly do.

Sorry if I sounded like I was bashing Farmers and Ranchers. The comparison just rubbed me the wrong way.

Aspertaine (sic) is the fecal matter from the E-Coli bacteria...

Where do you people come up with some of the inane comments that you make? First, Rodger, bacteria do not have fecal matter because they are one-celled organisms that do not possess digestive tracts to produce fecal matter.

Secondly, aspartame has been found to be safe for human consumption by more than ninety countries worldwide, with FDA officials describing aspartame as "one of the most thoroughly tested and studied food additives the agency has ever approved" and its safety as "clear cut", but has been the subject of several controversies, hoaxes, and health scares.

A widely circulated email hoax cited aspartame as the cause of numerous diseases. The Center for Disease Control investigated and was unable to find any significant epidemiological associations to serious risk or harm. In other words, don't believe all the B.S. that you receive through e-mail.

Dumb people will believe dumb @!$%#, and it's been shown that using facts and reason on them only reinforces their idiotic beliefs.

So sorry to hear about this little boy. Seventeen years ago, my 2 year old daughter became very very ill - high fever black stools etc etc and was hospitalized for a week. They believed she had e-coli or some rare form of lymes disease. Thank God the illness cleared itself and she arrived home with an unknown diagnosis.

I recall very clearly how they thought she developed E-coli not from food but from swimming in a nearby lake. I haven't read all of the information, but does anyone know whether this little boy had been swimming anywhere prior to his death?

Actually Scales....here is the real deal on Aspartame:

When aspartame was put before the FDA for approval, it was denied eight times. g.d. Searle, founder of aspartame, tried to get FDA approval in 1973. Clearly, he wasn't bothered by reports from neuroscientist Dr. John Olney and researcher Ann reynolds (hired by Searle himself) that aspartame was dangerous. Dr. Martha Freeman, a scientist from the FDA division of Metabolic and endocrine drug Products, declared, "The information submitted for review is inadequate to permit a scientific evaluation of clinical safety." Freeman recommended that until the safety of aspartame was proven, marketing the product should not be permitted. Alas, her recommendations were ignored. Somehow, in 1974, Searle got approval to use aspartame in dry foods. However, it wasn't smooth sailing from there. In 1975, the FDA put together a task force to review Searle's testing methods. Task force team leader Phillip Brodsky said he "had never seen anything as bas as Searle's testing" and called the tests results "manipulated." Before aspartame actually made it into dry foods, Olney and attorney and consumer advocate Jim Turner filed objections against the approval.

In 1977, the FDA asked the U.S. attorney's office to start grand jury proceedings against Searle for "knowingly misrepresenting findings and concealing material facts and making false statements in aspartame safety tests." shortly after, the U.S. attorney leading the investigation against Searle was offered a job by the law firm that was representing Searle. Later that same year, he resigned as U.S. attorney and withdrew from the case, delaying the grand jury's investigation. This caused the statute of limitations on the charges to run out, and the investigation was dropped. And he accepted the job with Searle's law firm. Stunning.

In 1980, a review by the Public Board of Inquiry set up by the FDA determined that aspartame should not be approved. The board said it had not been presented with proof of reasonable certainty that aspartame is safe for use as a food additive." In 1981, new FDA Commissioner Arthur Hull Hayes was appointed. Despite the fact that three out of six scientists advised against approval, Hayes decided to overrule the scientific review panel and allow aspartame into limited dry goods. In 1983, he got it approved for beverages, even though the National Soft Drink Association urged the FDA to delay approval until further testing could be done. That same year, Hayes left the FDA amid charges of impropriety. The Internal Department of Health and Human services was investigating Hayes for accepting gratuities from FDA-regulated companies. He went to work as a consultant for Searle's public relations firm. Interesting. The FDA finally urged Congress to prosecute Searle for giving the government false or incomplete test results on aspartame. However, the two government attorneys assigned to the case decided not to prosecute. Later, they went to work for the law firm that represented Searle. Fascinating. Despite recognizing ninety-two different symptoms that result from ingesting aspartame, the FDA approved it for use, without restriction in 1996. Brilliant.

So many people have been sickened from this @!$%# that there are aspartame victim support groups. Some of the ninety-two aspartame side effects listed by the FDA include memory loss, nerve cell damage, migraines, reproductive disorders, mental confusion, brain lesions, blindness, joint pain, Alzheimer's, bloating, nervous system disorders, hair loss, food cravings, and weight gain.

Aspartame is a $1 billion industry. The National Justice League has filed a series of lawsuits against food companies using aspartame, claiming they are poisoning the public. In September 2004, a class action lawsuit was filed for $350 million against NutraSweet and the American Diabetics Association. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld is named in the suit for using political muscle to get aspartame approved by the FDA.

Nutrasweet and Equil contain aspartame. When ingested, one of aspartames ingredients, methyl alcohol, converts into formaldehyde, a deadly neurotoxin. In addition to aspartame, Equal contains the amino acid phenylalanine. Phenylalanine occurs naturally in the brain. But high levels can increase the chance of seizures and lead to depression and schizophrenia. There is no lesser of the two evils. NutraSweet and Equal are both evil. Sweet and Low is no saint, either. It is an artificial sweetener that contains saccharin, a coal-tar compound. Stay away.

Because we're having so much fun, lets bash the @!$%# out of Splenda, one of the newer sweeteners. Splenda is made by chlorinated sugar, changing its molecular structure. The finished product is called sucralose. The makers of this poison tout its lack of calories and claim it's safe for diabetics. The FDA calls sucralose 98 percent pure. The other 2 percent contains small amounts of heavy metals, methanol, and arsenic. Well gee, at least it doesn't have any calories. So what if it has a little arsenic? Sucralose has been found to cause diarrhea; organ, genetic, immune system, and reproductive damage; swelling of the liver and kidneys: and a decrease in fetal body weight. What a splendid product!

Excerpt from Skinny Bitch. .... So you see...while Aspartame isn't from one celled organisms, it's still not the wonder product people claim it is. The best way to keep yourself healthy (for the most part) is to READ LABELS and if you can't pronounce it, don't eat it! EAT REAL FOOD!!!!

You need to stop smoking whatever it is and get a life.

@Jeanneswish--Very glad your story with your daughter had a good ending, even though she went home with an unknown diagnosis.

Does anyone have a theory or thought about this: In the article, it says that only "20% of E. coli cases are part of confirmed outbreaks" and "only 36% of (a total of) 265,000 infections caused by Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (are of this particular strain)" parentheses mine. Am I reading this correctly--there are 64% of these cases that are caused by different strain(s) of E. coli? How many different strains are identified? How many of these cases are sent home like Jeanneswish's daughter--illness cleared and she was sent home with an unknown diagnosis?

Your forgot to mentioned mono-sodium glutamate, a food flavor enhancer found, not only in Chinese food, but in most canned foods, from Campbell's soup to baby food. Food flavor enhancers like MSG and aspertame produce headaches, nausea, stomach pain, dizziness and even trigger epileptic attacks, for which reasons they were not allowed by the FDA to be added to foods for human consumption. They were allowed to be used in foods when president Ronald Reagan replaced the Health Commissioner when he became president in the l980s. Ever since, the decisions made by the FDA have to be approved by the Food Industry, who owns it, together with a bunch of Republicans in congress.

Sebastian11--now THAT is scary. Sounds to me kind of like giving the foxes charge of the hen house. It always turns out badly for the hens.

I believe Aspertame and other sugar substitutes are harmful and poisonous, but fecal matter? What scientific thinking leads you to that conclusion? When you take a completely false statement like that and put it out there as some kind of fact, you come across as a total idiot. Just because somebody sends around a chain email and says pass this on doesn't make a thing true, and for you to repeat the thing to others and to actually pass it on before even trying to verify it truthfulness is supporting a lie.

"Keep your chins up, better days ahead," really? Let people grieve without being told how to feel. I know you mean well, but they just lost a child. They don't need to be told to keep their chins up right now. Condolences, love, and support, that's what we need to be sending.

redmoth

"Keep your chins up, better days ahead," really? Let people grieve without being told how to feel. I know you mean well, but they just lost a child.

Youre right, I shoiuld have said they will be miserable the rest of their lives. Really? Do you know these people? So who are you to say what they need?

@redmoth--Absolutely. About the best thing that I can think of that can be said for the parents is, if they are given the condolences, love, and support they need now from friends and family--at some future time, they will be able to help another couple go through this terrible experience. So sad.

Comeon, folks...Mr Frost was simply trying to offer his condolences.

Don't be so petty.

The current recall was regarding salmonella, not E. Coli. I checked that recall myself, wasn't our brand of dog food. Wouldn't want my Lab to miss a meal.

I love Food Inc. especially when they talk about the fact that 80%(?) of e.coli can be removed from the gut of cows by giving them an all grass diet.

Then there's the dilemna of what to do with that leftover pesky 20%. If the germophobes only knew how many types of E.Coli are just laying out there in wait for them. They would wrap themselves in Tyvek and sleep in a hermetically sealed box of hand sanitizer. Microbes are everywhere.

Modern humans want to rid the world of any risk, Pablo.

We have a need to control everything to the point of obsessing over everything we do and everything we eat or drink. That is no way to live.

thx for the info!

And how exactly are farmers and ranchers supposed to find enough grass to feed all their cattle up until slaughter time? Anyone with an ounce of common sense would be able to figure out that there is not enough surface in this country to grass feed cattle for 2-3 years of their lives until they are ready for slaughter. And if we aren't able to raise it here, then we would have to import it. And if you think our food inspection and regulation needs work, just travel to a different country because I can guarantee they have way more illness caused by contaminated food. Secondly, if you would take the time to do a simple internet search on the figures for deaths caused by food, you would find out that the majority of food-bourne illnesses and deaths are caused by produce, turkey, and chicken NOT beef. Get your facts straight before you start "advising" ranchers on how to feed this country.

TS789--Thanks. I don't know what the answer is--no matter when the product is, from lipstick to beef, if producers can find a cheaper way to produce it, they will go that route. Sounds like cheaper in this case means "very risky"

jreed has a good point, though, about many food-bourne illnesses are caused by produce. That has happened in my own family.

I don't necessarily agree that beef producers find the cheapest way to produce food for the country. As concerned as everyone appears to be about everyone else, would you all rather have food on the table, or starve like people in third world countries?

Here is a quote from Dr. Gary Sides--"things are different today than they were even 60 years ago. “Compared to 1950, if we farmed the same way we did back then today, we would only be able to feed half of the people in the U.S. We currently provide 25 percent of the world's beef with just 10
percent of the cattle."

Also, your chance of dying from a food borne illness is .00001 percent, and food borne illness can easily be prevented by using the proper precautions when handling food that inclues- cook the food, don't eat raw meat, drink pasteurized milk, wash and cook vegetables, keep meat and vegetables separate, and wash your hands this can all help prevent illnesses. Even if there's e-coli on hamburger, if you cook it
thoroughly, there shouldn't be an issue. And if you're scared of getting a food borne illness from a restuarant, then don't eat out.

Anything you introduce into an animals diet that is not its natural feed is dangerous. Mad cow came about because of feed that had animal byproducts it it. Long time ago I stopped buying meat from super markets and big box stores. I buy local beef from a farmer and grind my burger. This nonsense of cooking to a certain temperature is stupid. What they are saying is we are going to send you tainted food and they way to get rid of the taint is to cook it so you kill the taint. Kinda like putting the the cart way out front of the horse. Just think that the bad forms of ecoli come from excretement should make you think a little more. Watch the guy on the grill. Does he wash his hands everytime he touches raw meat?

Also, your chance of dying from a food borne illness is .00001 percent

How they came up with that propoganda is beyond comprehension.

How do the farmers find enough grass to feed the cows to slaughter? Stop selling all the hay produced domestically to every country with a big wallet. Not lying. Most of the hay grown here is chopped and pressed and sold to arid countries that do not have the economic capability to produce their own. We get at least 4 cuttings a season here. They bale it, and stack it, and wait for the market for their best opportunity. Again, Im not begrudging making a buck, but if ranchers can't find hay to feed their stock, they arent looking hard enough. Coincidentally there are 4 large feed lots and 3 large dairies within 15 minute drive of my house. I usually see them feeding corn based meal. Corn is cheap at fattens fast and puts that nice marbling in the meat that us obese Americans love so much. It's about marketing, efficiency (ie make more money). I question the digestablity of corn as claimed. If corn is so digestable for livestock, why do they so often put it in sileage to slightly biodegrade (ie ferment) in order to make it easier for the cattle to digest? Just curious.

Corn is not cheap, and neither is hay. I have been in the ranching industry my entire life, and most rancher I know don't have the cash available to buy hay to feed their cattle year round, just to satisfy a few people who think feeding them corn causes E Coli outbreaks that kill people. How many people have died from E Coli in beef in the last 5 years? Not nearly as many as those who have died from other foodborne illnesses carried by fresh produce. We raise enough hay to feed our cows through the winter and summer if needed, but still it is unrealistic to feed the multitude of animals needed to feed this country solely with grass/hay. It takes much longer to finish out an animal on a grass diet. Also, show me one study that connects obesity to beef. Most cuts of beef are lean, especially when excess fat is trimmed off prior to cooking. Corn fed cattle is not what has made Americans obese, eating processed foods, soda, and other things have.

He probably came up with it because according to the CDC website, only approximately 3,000 people in the U.S. died of foodborne illness in 2011. There are approximately 313,700,000 people in the U.S. When you look at the numbers, its easy to see that the number of people who die from these diseases is quite low. This tragedy with a six year old child is very sad. And as a mother to a six year old, my heart goes out to this little boy's family. But the truth is, a much smaller percentage of the population dies from this sort of thing than most people think. The problem is that the media constantly exaggerates the situation. If you don't believe me, then look up the numbers. They speak for themselves. People should find something better to do with their time than worrying about every little thing that can go wrong. How is that any way to live?

I did not say that beef has made us obese. I said corn feeding produces beef with more marbling (ie fat) that us (to include me, since I said "us") love so much. Marbling in meat is fat IN the meat. it cant be trimmed off. So youre implying that a well marbled cut of corn fed beef has the same fat content of a grass fed equivalent cut? Because I guarantee you my rib steaks I have cut when I buy my steer each Fall are a lot leaner than the ones I see in the Safeway meat case. Like I previously said, not everybody has the same opportunity I do. I have noticed that the local grass fed (and even some recently corn fed) beef I find at the local Farmers market are not nearly as fatty as Commercial gorcery store cuts. I could be wrong, but it's just what I have observed. Obesity is linked to increased intake in fatty foods as well as processed foods. A balanced diet rich in greens, vegetables and fruits and limted fat intake with sensible exercise will reduce obesity.

So you say corn is expensive and hay is expensive. That means they both are. Which is cheaper?(just curious since I dont follow the specific markets). I guess some of my point being that finsihing out an animal for a couple weeks is one thing. There needs to be a balance in everything. Like you said (I think it was you) "Cows are herbivores". Wouldnt this preclude that it would provide a healthier animal (thus a healtheir product) if the meat industry fed their stock a balanced diet of greenery? I mean if I ate corn every day for 6 months I can imagine what that would do to me. I believe the process for making goose livers for Pate is to forcefeed geese corn until their livers get gigantic with fat.

By the way, Thanks "Jreed" for the civil discussion. Although we seem to have gone way off on a tangent. I have found the debate enlightening.

Grass fed beef is indeed leaner than corn fed, I have had the chance to try both and personally think that the corn fed is much more flavorful. Researchers have recently found that beef is not as "bad" for you as everyone first thought. I can't find the specific results, but was at a conference where the speaker spoke about the topic.

I don't know exactly which is more expensive to feed (corn vs. hay), but I also look at the big picture. It would take much more grass and hay to feed each calf for 2-3 years of its life, while continuing to run the adult cows and keep producing calves that will grow up and be butchered. There is simply not enough resources to feed and finish all the cattle that are necessary to continue to put food on the shelves. Since each rancher would have to feed the animal for an additional year or two, their production costs would be much higher, which would of course trigger a higher price in grocery stores. Unfortunately, the actual producers (ranchers) don't hardly make a profit after they pay their production costs.

You are correct however our normal e. coli that we carry is not the STEC (shiga toxic producing E. coli). That is what is so damaging to people's kidneys. It is more often found in animals (cows especially).

From working at the health department I would encourage you to be cautious with your meats - cook your burgers all the way and watch for cross contamination especially when dealing with chicken. And watch for symptoms. If something doesn't seem right then talk to your doctor, especially when dealing with kids.

There are over 700 strains of e. coli. While it is true we all carry certain strains of it and other bacteria in our systems, practicing good hygiene will prevent many of the transfers that could occur. Unfortunately, kids in particular share all kinds of (E.coli and other) germs with each other all the time, and in most cases, the resultant symptoms are minimal, inconvenient or just uncomfortable (i.e. colds, flu, diarrhea and stomachaches, etc.). But in this case, the child specifically contracted "the hemolytic uremic syndrome, the most serious complication of infection with dangerous strains of E. coli bacteria". That particular strain is not common and that is why officials are trying to find out its source, which was not necessarily another person; if anyone else had contracted that strain it is likely they would have become very sick too.

Rosyone--over 700 strains? Wow. I consider myself reasonably aware and informed, personally I never had the idea that there were any where near that many. I don't think that is at all widely known, because if it was people would be a heck of a lot more cautious about cooking meat.

I have a question--what about the strains of E. coli that come from produce? Are those destroyed by thorough washing? I remember hearing about a number of recalls in the past few years for things like prepackaged salad. Makes you wonder about the producers claim of "triple washed".

i too work in the health dept. Emily. my daughter had HUS and I had to to two providers that said she was fine and it was just a viral that would have to run its course. i ended up calling someone i trusted who couldnt see her because it wasnt her week at the clinic and she told me that i needed to get her to an ER right away and that she would call them. we werent there for 10 minutes and the Ped. had an idea of what it was, she started seizing and we got life-flighted to Denver where we spent nearly a month. for everyone else that said dialysis. we did that, but it takes time. there couldnt wait after they had surgically implanted the catheter for the solution and they started her on the treatments right away. she was on the machine 24 hours for nearly a week and then they for days after that they would only give her 4 hours off. then it started leaking because they couldnt wait long enough after the surgery. it is also better if they get the disease when they are young, because they do have a better chance of surviving it than older kids, or adults. we get all of our beef from my parents farm and i am adament about washing all fruits and veggies in hot water more than once. it can be prevented. but even so, it is still going to happen. i think there just needs to be more education about it. and what symptoms to look for. i stayed home with her for a week while people with medical degrees were telling me she was just going to have to let it run its course. so yes, cook your food and wash your food, but go with your insticts, you are always more educated about your kid and their health than any doctor is.

We carry certain forms of ecoli in our waste but not the deadly strains or we would all be dead Jeez

Be nice cropman! Sounds like you work for Monsanto...

Maybe you should watch CORNKING or FOOD INC to learn about feeding corn to cows and cattle; they were meant to eat grass! Why does this country grow so much FEED corn if it is so expensive to use as feed??? I agree that you sound like someone who works for Monsanto..but weren't all farmers forced to work for Monsanto, basically, by Monsanto forcing them to use their seed??

Everyone is an expert...

Ahhhh...finally someone mentions Monsanto...

How many people are aware of the processes used to insert a genetic payload into cells?

There are two common methods used. One uses low voltage electricity to fracture the cellular wall to allow the new genetic material to enter the cell.

The other uses a form of ecoli that is especially good at invading cells to insert the genetic material...read on my friends...

A little-known fact is that during the genetic modification process, e-coli is used to clone the transgenic (genetically modified) DNA before it is inserted into plant cells that are then grown into transgenic crops such as those bearing the label “Roundup Ready.”

‘Genetic engineering’ or genetic manipulation as it should properly be called, relies essentially on the ability to manipulate molecules in vitro. Most biomolecules exist in low concentrations & as complex, mixed populations which it is not possible to work with effectively. This problem was solved in 1970 using the molecular biologist’s favourite bug, Escherichia coli , a normally innocuous commensal occupant of the human gut. By inserting a piece of DNA of interest into a vector molecule, i.e. a molecule with a bacterial origin of replication, when the whole recombinant construction is introduced into a bacterial host cell, a large number of identical copies is produced. Together with the rapid growth of bacterial colonies all derived from a single original cell bearing the recombinant vector, in a short time (e.g. a few hours) a large amount of the DNA of interest is produced. This can be purified from contaminating bacterial DNA easily & the resulting product is said to have been ‘cloned’.

The reason e-coli, or Escherichia coli, are used is because, like agrobacteria, which is used to insert the transgenic DNA into the plant cell during the genetic modification procedure, e-coli is highly prolific. It is also able to transfer DNA via horizontal, or lateral transfer to and from other species.

How is this significant?

New strains of E. coli evolve through the natural biological process of mutation and through horizontal gene transfer. Some strains develop traits that can be harmful to a host animal.

It is possible that a mutated form of e-coli resulting from the cloning process used in creating GMOs could get into the gut of a person or animal that eats a transgenic plant.

Could this be why DuPont, the company that produces Pioneer Hi-Bred GMO animal feed, and proud proponent of GMO technology, has jumped into partnership with the USDA in identifying hard-to-identify strains of e-coli?

A new joint project between DuPont Qualicon and the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) aims to develop testing to detect hard-to-identify strains of E.coli that are not regulated and have been causing increasing instances of food contamination.

(#more-10972)

With this convenient partnership, even if harmful strains of e-coli relating to GMOs are discovered, it is likely that the public will never hear it from the USDA or DuPont.

Something else not mentioned above is that the e coli used in GMOs is engineered to be resistant to antibiotics. I find it extremely interesting that in some main stream media reports of these e coli cases that a few of them mentioned that the "rare strain" of e coli was "resistant" to antibiotics...A coincidence? I think not my friends!

Actually I don't work for Monsanto. I do expect all of you people commenting on this grow you own food and raise your own livestock and see how well that works for you. The knew epidemic would be starvation. Wouldn't that be funny

Ground beef, not steak.

Anything can be mfg in a lab environment, anything.

moto87... Sure. Then we could use it in wartime. To kill even more of mankind. Please don't be giving any more ideas to loonytoones, okay?

How would you suggest that farmers feed their cattle an all grass diet during the winter when it is -10 degrees, snow on the ground, and there is no grass?

Thats why farmers hay feilds all summer. Cows are not designed to eat corn and ground meat pieces. They are rumenants. With three stomachs to digest grass. The only reason we feed them corn, ground meat ( by the way they are herbavors) and anitiotics is to make it a stream line process for Big Agra to maximize profits. The public needs to educate themselves before it is to late. Remember Oprah and the Texas cattle men law suit. She won because she had more money to spend. The laws on the books to prevent people from speaking out against Big Agra would scare you. Thank Monsanto et. al.

I grew up in the midwest around farming, I don't know any farmers that feed their cattle ground meat. If you don't feed cattle corn in the winter, they will freeze to death. Corn produces heat in them. There is no grass to be found in the midwest in winter, not enough to sustain a few hundred head of cattle any way, let alone a feed lot with thousands of head of cattle.

"Big Agra"?

Is that anything like "Big Pharma"?

I wish people would stop with the paranoia already.

I agree that things need oversight, but come on...no one is "out to get you."

Well not to get into an argument. But have you read a cattle feed bag? Yes there is ground meat in there. That is why we see Bovine spongiform enchephalitis AKA Mad Cow Disease.I live in upsate NY and am in a farming community. There is a huge difference between whats in a local silo and what is fed on cattle lots. I also have worked in paper mills. We send out tanker cars of "Industrial molassas" for cattle feed. That is the stuff that is cooked out of wood to make pulp. Full of chemicals that would be against the law to sell to you or I straight up. You need to be more inquisitive about our food.

How is it unnatural. They are herbivores. Corn is a plant. Grass is a plant. They only time I have given an antibiotic is when the animal is hurt or it's cold out and we're calving. I'm sure when you get hurt and get an infection you get an antibiotic. I've never seen or even heard of an animal getting sick from eating corn. That is rediculously stupid

This isnt a Republican vs Democrat issue. Both sides put people in govrenment positions to regulate our food and drugs. Look at the people running the FDA and who put them there. This is an issue of americans taking back some control of what we are forced to eat and use. Vote with your dollars. That is the only thing politicians and business understand.

I couldn't agree more Grandpa. Greed will destroy this country. It is very sad that our country is more concerned about the almighty dollar than the health and saftey of its people.

Greed is good, sorry to break it too you, but greed built this country. Greed and Power in Politics, now that's a different story. That said, both of these issues are out of context of this story.

This is EXACTLY in context. This family and this poor child should have never been put through this terrible ordeal. If it werent for our food supply being corrupted they would never have suffered and this little boy would be playing right now. And by the way. The sweat and blood of hard working americans built this country.

Hey retard. They don't put ground meat in cattle feed. Since mad cow disease has been around it has been outlawed. Maybe you should read up on that.

Grandpa... Here are a few good ones to back that up:

"Too many of us look upon Americans as dollar chasers. This is a cruel libel, even if it is reiterated thoughtlessly by the Americans themselves." Albert Einstein

"People are never satisfied. If they have a little, they want more. If they have a lot, they want still more. Once they have more, they wish they could be happy with little, but are incapable of making the slightest effort in that direction." Paulo Coelho

"America may be unique as a country in that it went from barbarism to decadence without touching civilization."John O'Neill

Ahh Cropman, skewered by your rapier whit. retard? really? Your intelligence is only over shadowed by your surgical use of the english language. Lets see. Animal by products are IN FACT used in many other animal feeds. These feeds produced in the same factories as cattle feed. So pig feed, cattle feed it all gets mixed. And there is no law prohibiting the feeding of the by products from chickens,or pigs OR beef blood to cattle. If you would like to have a scientific and fact based discussion about CAFO's, Cattle lots, over use of antibiotics in cattle and other live stock. The laws gained by CBP, Cargill and others. I would be glad to have it.

Sam, I believe it was Oscar Wilde who said "America is the only country that has gone from barbarism to decadence without civilization in between."

Tyson is a REPUBLICAN corp? How about that Kosher meat plant in Iowa that was hiring so many illegals,and NOT Practicing Kosher production? I know LOTS of Jewish families that are REPUBS, right folks?