There are many strains of E. coli (Escherichia coli) most of which are harmless, but there are a few that can cause serious illness, even death! E. coli 0157:H7 is one of the more dangerous E. coli bacteria and is a mutated version of the harmless E. coli bacteria. Infection of E. coli 0157:H7 may lead to hemorrhagic diarrhea and, more rarely, kidney failure. For the most part, people who have healthy immune systems are relatively safe from this bacteria and it will leave their bodies in 5-10 days. But in some people, particularly the very young and the elderly, this infection can cause Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (HUS), in which red blood cells are destroyed and the kidneys fail. About 2-7% of E. coli 0157:H7 infections lead to this complication which usually ends in death. Of the children who are infected by this strain of E. coli 5% get HUS and die. Those who survive are often left with permanent disabilities, such as blindness or brain damage. This is a common contaminate found mainly in ground beef which most probably came from factory farm raised cows who were slaughtered in an unhygienic processing plant. Why are dangerous E. coli outbreaks mainly linked to factory farm raised animals? All you have to do is see how these animals are treated their whole lives, living in feedlots, wallowing in their own and others feces, and eating the remains of other animals! No wonder these animals very flesh would be unhealthy for us to eat! If living unhealthily isn't enough, at meat processing plants the animals are killed in an awful way, and handled in a completely unhygienic way. Oftentimes, the meat is infected by the stomach contents spilling onto the meat, afterwards it is simply packaged and sent off to be sold with little to no decontamination.
Right now if you are a vegetarian (like me) you are probably heaving a sigh of relief because you don't eat that stuff anyway! Well, I have some bad news for you, E. coli 0157:H7 and other harmful strains can infect you as well! How would this be possible? Well, the feces produced by factory farm animals is usually pumped into a special "lagoon", these "lagoons" in storms will sometimes spill over and contaminate much of the land surrounding it. Also, sometimes farmers will spray the contents of the "lagoon" onto crops as a fertilizer, when in truth what they are doing is contaminating the crops with whatever diseases were in the lagoon of animal waste. Fruits and veggies will often be contaminated with E. coli 0157:H7 because they were either watered with contaminated water, or fertilized with factory farm "lagoon" contents. This is why it is extremely important to buy organic produce (USDA certified) and to know your farmer!
There are many people who are trying to take on factory farms and meat processing plants on their disgusting treatment of animals both alive and dead. One woman, whose son was killed by E. coli contaminated meat, created a law called "Kevin's Law" (named after her son) which would allow the government to shut down food processing facilities that had failed multiple inspections. This law has yet to be passed because of the enormous opposition expressed by the food industry. So even though this months ban is coming to a close, I beg all of you to not go back and have fast food as often as you used to, and to not purchase any foods that could have come from a factory farm. Not only would this help our health, but the animal's as well.
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