E. Coli Detected Near Spinach

Cattle Manure Within a Mile of California Fields

Investigators found E. coli in cattle feces near Salinas Valley spinach fields that matches the strain of the bacteria that sickened 200 people and killed at least three -- a major discovery in the nearly two-month search for the cause of the outbreak.

The fecal samples were found within a mile of spinach fields, on a farm with both beef cattle and produce operations, Kevin Reilly, a California food safety official, said yesterday.

Investigators are turning their attention to how the deadly bacteria could have gotten into spinach crops. Theories include contaminated irrigation water, poor worker hygiene, and wild pigs running through pastures and into the spinach fields.

"We do not have a smoking cow at this point, no," Reilly said.

Reilly was careful to say that yesterday's finding does not mean that investigators found the source of the outbreak. Over the past several weeks, investigators have collected more then 650 specimens of soil, water, plants and feces, and they are still testing for E. coli. Officials have not ruled out other sources of contamination.

The California and federal health officials conducting the investigation have narrowed its focus from 12 fields on nine farms to four fields on four farms, Reilly said. The growers that operate the four implicated fields, in Monterey and San Benito counties, have stopped growing ready-to-eat produce on those fields.

Though last month's E. coli outbreak was the 20th in 10 years linked to leafy greens and the ninth traced to the Salinas Valley, investigators have never found a specific source of contamination, which made yesterday's finding unusual.

"This is a significant finding because it's the first time we've linked a spinach or lettuce E. coli . . . outbreak to test results from a specific ranch in the Salinas Valley," Reilly said.

E. coli O157:H7 is an especially toxic form of E. coli, which can cause bloody stool, kidney failure and death.

Knowing the precise source of the outbreak could help regulators and farmers come up with more effective ways to prevent contamination, food safety experts said.

The family of an elderly Hagerstown woman who died last month after eating bagged spinach has filed a federal wrongful-death lawsuit against Natural Selection Foods LLC and Dole Food Co., one of several such suits. The death of June Dunning, 86, was not definitively linked to the outbreak because of problems completing a genetic test on the bacteria that infected her. Her death is still considered "under investigation" by public health officials.

Samantha Cabaluna, a spokeswoman for Natural Selection, said she has not seen the lawsuit and declined to comment.

Dunning died the day before the Food and Drug Administration first told the public to avoid eating fresh spinach. The outbreak was quickly traced to Natural Selection, a processor in Salinas that immediately recalled all its spinach products. Five other produce packers did the same.

About two weeks ago, after the investigation was narrowed to nine Salinas Valley farms, FDA officials said any fresh spinach that wasn't recalled was safe to eat again.