Less than a mile from spinach fields growing on a ranch near
Paicines, investigators isolated a deadly strain of E. coli that is
indistinguishable from the strain that caused last year’s outbreak,
state and federal health officials said Friday. Health officials
identified four ranches in San Benito and Monterey counties as the
possible sources of the E. coli outbreak.
Hollister – Less than a mile from spinach fields growing on a ranch near Paicines, investigators isolated a deadly strain of E. coli that is indistinguishable from the strain that caused last year’s outbreak, state and federal health officials said Friday.
Health officials identified four ranches in San Benito and Monterey counties as the possible sources of the E. coli outbreak.
But traces of the deadly E. coli O157:H7 outbreak strain were found on Paicines Ranch near land leased to Mission Organics, a spinach grower, according to a report released by the California Department of Health Services and the United States Food and Drug Administration.
The E. coli outbreak, which sickened more than 200 and killed three nationwide, was spread through prepackaged spinach processed at San Juan Bautista-based Natural Selection Foods.
Dr. Kevin Reily, deputy director of prevention services for the California Department of Health Services, said investigators do not know how the spinach was contaminated.
“We found in our investigation a number of areas that could have contributed,” he said.
Officials found E. coli from pig feces, cattle feces and river water on Paicines ranch, Reily said, but did not know if the tainted spinach was grown by Mission Organics.
The six-month probe will serve as a model for future investigations since it was the first time authorities had traced a bacterial contamination to its likely source using DNA matching, officials said.
Authorities did not recommend issuing fines to any growers, handlers or producers, but said the leafy greens industry would be closely watched following the outbreak.
The ultimate purpose of the investigation was to put forth preventative measures and immediately advise the industry of changes to safety practices, Reily said. He said the testing being implemented by growers and handlers has already made leafy greens safer.
Health officials advocated more research into E. coli to learn about how it spreads Friday.
Regardless of how the spinach was contaminated, health officials said the three other ranches found to be contaminated with E. coli after the outbreak had inherent environmental risks.
San Benito County Agricultural Commissioner Paul Matulich said not much of the county’s more than 3,000 acres of spinach is grown south of Tres Pinos, where the E. coli outbreak strain was found.
“Eighty percent is either grown in the San Juan Valley or out going toward the Bolsa,” Matulich said. “Ten percent or less is grown south of Tres Pinos.”
As local growers wait to see what safety practices will be implemented, many hope consumer confidence in spinach will rebound fully.
Matulich estimated county spinach revenue loss at between $5 million and $6 million due to 2006’s E. coli outbreak.
Officials did not recommend widespread mandatory guidelines to prevent future outbreaks, angering victims and their families.
The Paicines Ranch, which breeds Angus cattle and quarter horses, said in a statement on its Web site that it leases land to crop growers and was not under investigation in the outbreak. Ranch officials declined further comment.
Mission Organics can’t sell spinach until state health authorities approve a new plan that shows they corrected their agricultural practices to minimize bacterial contamination.
The company’s spinach fields were in the second year of a three-year transition to organic production, officials said.
Otto Kramm, the head of Mission Organics, has said he plans to build an $80,000 fence around the 450 acres he leases from Paicines Ranch to prevent pigs from going through the area to feed on grapes in neighboring vineyards.
