I am not saying who this is. That person's information is not mine to
share, but here are some things you may not have known which might
help you to know for avoiding a horror in the future.

---

It is a horrible, horrible type of food poisoning, and I just can NOT
get some people to the risks of food poisoning seriously, or to realize
that shiga toxin remains to some extent after cooking and sometimes it
remains in high enough levels to do this.

Before slaughter some chicken farms give slaughter house cattle waste
or other animal waste to chickens to fatten them more. Some of these
diseases remain a while in chickens, especially in the crop. Even Mad
Cow Disease (a prion disease that chickens do not get) remains to some
extent in the crop for up to a few weeks if my memory serves for the
time frame which is why some parts of the world are outlawing the
feeding of mammal slaughter debris to chickens which are meant for
feeding anyone.

So, even though cattle are the usual origin of shiga toxin producing
strains of E. coli, there is a route by which that can get into cattle.

Cattle in turn are often fed fish meal and other animal meals before
slaughter to add fat. This is helping deplete already badly stressed
fisheries. The fisheries of the world have been rapidly declining
since something like the mid 1990s or mid 1980s. (I read a study on
it a while ago but not closely so do not recall the date.) and Global
Warming increases that because many phytoplankton can not cope with
temperature changes, more storms, decreased salinity, or changing
currents depending on their location.

No, I am not a vegetarian, just aware that many farming and slaughter
practices are being done in ways that are very risky.

I think I will copy this information to the FML as "part of a
conversation with a person tragically losing ferrets to shiga toxin
producing E. coli".

Sukie (not a vet)

Recommended ferret health links:
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/ferrethealth/
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/
http://www.afip.org/ferrets/index.html
http://www.miamiferret.org/
http://www.ferrethealth.msu.edu/
http://www.ferretcongress.org/
http://www.trifl.org/index.shtml
http://homepage.mac.com/sukie/sukiesferretlinks.html
all ferret topics:
http://listserv.ferretmailinglist.org/archives/ferret-search.html
"All hail the procrastinators for they shall rule the world tomorrow."
(2010, Steve Crandall)
"This message is rated PG for extreme bravery in a vacuum."
(2010, Steve Crandall)

[Posted in FML 6784]