BACKGROUND Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) O157:H7 is the causal agent for more than 96,000 cases of diarrheal illness and 3,200 infection-attributable hospitalizations annually in the United States. MATERIALS AND METHODS We defined a confirmed case as a compatible illness in a person with the outbreak strain during 10/07/2011-11/30/2011. Investigation included hypothesis genera...

field experiments were conducted to evaluate the effect of thiobencarb and oxadiargyl herbicides on rice (oryza sativa l.) and their possible residual effects on spinach (spinacea oleracea l.) and lettuce (lactuca sativa l.) at dashtnaz and gharakhil agricultural research stations, iran. treatments included thiobencarb at 3.16 and 6.33 kg a.i. ha-1, oxadiargyl at 0.15 and 0.30 kg a.i. ha-1 and ...

Lettuce is consumed raw in salads and is susceptible to microbial contamination through environment, agricultural practices, and its morphology, thus, a potential vehicle for food-borne illness. This study investigated the effect of adoption of food safety and hygienic practices by lettuce farmers on the microbial safety of field sourced lettuce in Lagos State, Nigeria. Ten structured questionn...

The role of lytic bacteriophages in preventing cross contamination of produce has not been evaluated. A cocktail of three lytic phages specific for E. coli O157:H7 (EcoShield™) or a control (phosphate buffered saline, PBS) was applied to lettuce by either; (1) immersion of lettuce in 500 ml of EcoShield™ 8.3 log PFU/ml or 9.8 log PFU/ml for up to 2 min before inoculation with E. coli O157:H7; (...

The fungal pathogen Verticillium dahliae has resulted in significant losses in numerous crops in coastal California, but lettuce remained unaffected until the mid-1990s. Since then outbreaks have decimated entire fields, but the causes of this sudden susceptibility of lettuce remain elusive. The population structure of V. dahliae isolated from coastal California (n=123) was investigated with 22...

The authors evaluated the effectiveness of ReJeX-iT@ AG-145, Mesurola, activated charcoal, lime, and fipronil to reduce homed lark damage to lettuce seeds and seedlings. In Experiment 1, homed larks consumed significantly more feed mixture (50:50 grains and lettuce seed) than untreated clay-coated lettuce seed in a three-day choice-test. In Experiment 2, where clay-coated lettuce seed was treat...

AIM To investigate bacteriological quality in organically grown leaf lettuce, including the presence of selected pathogenic bacteria, and to obtain information about organic lettuce production, including fertilizing regimes. METHODS AND RESULTS Altogether 179 samples of Norwegian organically grown lettuce were collected from 12 producers. Escherichia coli was isolated from 16 of the lettuce s...

Studies were conducted on the effect of controlled atmosphere storage as well as chemical pretreatments on the quality of lettuce as well as biochemical composition of lettuce leaves, Lactuca sativa L., cultivar "Great Lakes." In a CA of 2.5% CO2 and 2.57 02, the lettuce heads could be stored up to 75 days. Pre-storage treatments with microbeand s6nescenceinhibiting chemicale (Captan, Phaltan, ...

Four experiments were carried out at the São Paulo State University, Brazil, with the aim of determining the agronomic viability of intercropping tomato and lettuce, under greenhouse conditions. The studied intercropping systems were established by transplanting lettuce at 0, 10, 20 and 30 days after transplanting (DAT) tomato and by transplanting tomato at 0, 10, 20 and 30 DAT lettuce. Intercr...

In previous studies trace levels of perchlorate were found in lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) irrigated with Colorado River water, which is contaminated with low levels of perchlorate from aerospace and defense related industries. In this paper, we report the results of a survey conducted across North America to evaluate the occurrence of perchlorate in leafy vegetables produced outside the lower C...