@article{f81253c5cf3e48169d149b92310dc7f4,
title = "Escherichia coli transfer from simulated wildlife feces to lettuce during foliar irrigation: A field study in the Northeastern United States",
abstract = "Wildlife intrusion has been associated with pathogen contamination of produce. However, few studies have examined pathogen transfer from wildlife feces to pre-harvest produce. This study was performed to calculate transfer coefficients for Escherichia coli from simulated wildlife feces to field-grown lettuce during irrigation. Rabbit feces inoculated with a 3-strain cocktail of non-pathogenic E. coli were placed in a lettuce field 2.5–72 h before irrigation. Following irrigation, the E. coli concentration on the lettuce was determined. After exclusion of an outlier with high E. coli levels (Most Probable Number = 5.94*108), the average percent of E. coli in the feces that transferred to intact lettuce heads was 0.0267% (Standard Error [SE] = 0.0172). Log-linear regression showed that significantly more E. coli transferred to outer leaves compared to inner leaves (Effect = 1.3; 95% Confidence Interval = 0.4, 2.1). Additionally, the percent of E. coli that transferred from the feces to the lettuce decreased significantly with time after fecal placement, and as the distance between the lettuce and the feces, and the lettuce and the sprinklers increased. These findings provide key data that may be used in future quantitative risk assessments to identify potential intervention strategies for reducing food safety risks associated with fresh produce.",
author = "Weller, {Daniel L.} and Jasna Kovac and Kent, {David J.} and Sherry Roof and Tokman, {Jeffrey I.} and Erika Mudrak and Barbara Kowalcyk and David Oryang and Anna Aceituno and Martin Wiedmann",
note = "Funding Information: This paper is dedicated to the memory of Thomas Hilchey. This work was supported by the United States Food and Drug Administration (HHSF223201310014B) through a contract to the Research Triangle Institute. We are grateful for the technical assistance of Maureen Gunderson, Rick Randolph and Steve McKay, as well as the statistical support of Dr. Renata Ivanek. We are also grateful to Jeffery Black, Miquela Hanselman, Alexander Alles, Courtenay Simmons, Aljosa Trmcic, Kanika Chauhan, Rachel Miller, Rachel Evanowski, Laura Carroll, Veronica Guariglia, Thomas Denes, Lory Henderson, Ariel Buehler, Sarah Beno, Barbara Bowen, Molly Higgins, and Samuel Reichler for help in the field and the laboratory. We would also like to thank Dr. Trevor Suslow, Dr. Edward Atwill, Adrian Sbodio, Jennifer Chase, Janneth Pinzon, and Chelsea Kaminski for their help and guidance in developing the methodologies used in the study reported here, and for providing the bacterial strains used in the study reported here. We would also like to thank Drs Jane M. Van Doren and David Ingram for reviewing and providing suggestions during the development of this manuscript. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2017 Elsevier Ltd",
year = "2017",
month = dec,
doi = "10.1016/j.fm.2017.06.009",
language = "English (US)",
volume = "68",
pages = "24--33",
journal = "Food Microbiology",
issn = "0740-0020",
publisher = "Academic Press Inc.",
}