Editor’s note: This information was originally posted July 12, 2016, by Sandra Avant, public affairs specialist for USDA’s Agricultural Research Service as part of the Science Tuesday feature series on the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s blog. As the weather heats up this summer, many of us are firing up our grills and going on picnics.…
USDA Researchers Develop Camera System to Detect Active Shiga Toxin
Scientists at USDA’s Agricultural Research Service Western Regional Research Center in Albany, CA, have come up with a less-expensive way to detect biologically active Shiga toxin, a product of pathogenic Escherichia coli serotype O157:H7. 
It is estimated that E. coli O157:H7 causes 73,000 cases of food poisoning and more than 60 deaths in the United…
Rapid Tests Cast Doubt on Food Safety Success Story
A growing reliance on new, cheaper and faster testing for infectious diseases has experts questioning the accuracy of a reported decline of E. coli O157 cases in the U.S., challenging one of the nation’s few food safety success stories.
Rather than identifying the specific strain of E. coli, such as O157 or O104, faster tests …
Publisher's Platform: A Bit(e) of E. coli History
According to the CDC, E. coli O157:H7 causes 73,000 illnesses and 50 deaths every year in the United States. Another six E. coli strains – O26, O45, O111, O121, O145, and O103 – are considered less pervasive, sickening “only” an estimated 37,000 people a year and killing nearly 30. E. coli O157:H7 is considered an …