Why don't they tell us the E-coli source so we can avoid it?

[INeedNewShoes]

We're being warned about this current strain of E-coli. It sounds as though they've learned enough about the source to have an idea what it is. Why not tell the public so we can reduce our chance of getting it?

Of particular concern for the elderly, young children and anyone immunocompromised.

Because they don’t know what it is.

If the source was identified, it would be made public,
there would be no agenda to withhold such info !

Because they haven't identified it yet.

They'll be trawling thousands of possible products looking for a shared match between the sick people, then looking at the sources of those products to try to identify the manufacturing source.

It’s not been made public because it’s not known yet. What would be the logic of withholding such information?

It’s concerning but they’re not miracle workers. If it’s a nationally distributed food that’s perishable then any evidence is particularly tricky to get hold of.

personally (I’m immunocompromised) I’m just going to have to be careful of the obvious, so any meat is cooked thoroughly and salads are washed. I’ll steer clear of cheeses for a while too.

because they don't know.

If I was admitted to hospital with e coli, I wouldn't be able to remember everything I ate in the last few days, including brand, flavour etc.

It will take an awful lot of work before its established that, for example, everyone affected ate a certain brand/flavour of yoghurt, or sausage roll or whatever.

Because they haven't worked it out yet.

It's likely to be a UK-wide distributed food. Potential hosts are cooked meats, pre-washed salads etc. So it could be pate or bagged rocket or a pre-packed chicken sandwich......

I'm sure they'll tell us when they know.

Because they don't know, they didn't have a secret meeting and take bets on how long till people found out

Ah, I think I've misunderstood something I read and thought they did have an idea.

When I had crypto I was called by someone who took a list of everything I'd eaten over the phone. I assume this info all goes into a bit of software that looks for trends.

You’ll also possibly have the odd staff member depending on item who may be sick purely from contact moving the items not eating it. So then 10 people might not have Apples or whatever on their list of what did I eat in the last 48 hours.

@INeedNewShoes my dad had food poisoning caused by eggs. It was a geographical area but some people ate the eggs directly, some had them in food, my dad ate a sausage roll with egg wash on it. He was really poorly - his wife wanted him to go to hospital but he refused.

Looking ata list of foods, the affected people could have salad, merringue, pastry etc. but all be affected by the same food. It's really dififcult to trace.

Essentially, yes that's that what they are doing.

Say the all the people who are ill have consumed chilled milk in the run up to becoming sick. The onset of symptoms could be 3-10 days after exposure.

They then need to trace the supermarkets each person bought it from, then the milk suppliers, then the batches of milk that were likely to have been sold in that period (assuming the bottles aren't available) at that branch.

Then they need to try to obtain a sample, go to the manufacturing location / bottling plant of each supplier and check all the components there for contamination...

Now do that for every common item which could be responsible. Then there's all the stuff people will forget or not think relevant - a chicken sandwich at a friend's house, a cuppa in a cafe or at your mums, kids eating random crap shared with friends when playing....

Enormous task. Very time consuming, manpower heavy and complex.

I expect they will be doing that now, but it takes a while to realise it's not an isolated incident and as others have said, asking sick people to list everything they've eaten just before they became ill, including brand and where it was bought and when is a slow and laborious process. Cases are spread out all over the place and some won't be linked. Much easier if all the sick people were at a party at the same venue!

I thought the same - the article I read sounded like they knew but were choosing not to release the information too. I did find it strange.
I’m avoiding anything that is associated with e-coli for now like salad etc.

Is washing salad enough to make a difference I wonder?

I've just looked up my last question and washing doesn't remove the bacteria from lettuce.

The worst food poisoning I’ve ever had was from lettuce. I absolutely know it was that as it was the only thing dh and I had that was different to everyone else. It had been washed as well. I honestly felt like I was dying. The whole room was swimming, like I was underwater.

Food hygiene certificate many years ago — we were told to rinse fruit and veg and then place in a bowl of water to which you have added some vinegar. Leave for a few minutes, remove and dry. Changes the ph on the food being washed and bacteria prefers a neutral ph to multiply.
No idea if it’s still current thinking but I’ve done it for years and never had food poisoning. You can’t taste vinegar on the lettuce, apples etc. Lemon juice would also work.

EHOs will be interviewing everyone affected, the information gathered will be shared with the Public Health England team where the communicable disease team of doctors and nurses will be correlating and assessing the information. As this is nationwide, multiple local authorities and hospitals will be involved, it will be a huge job to coordinate but people will literally be working around the clock at the moment. It will be a ready to eat food, possibly a bagged salad. Due to the ramifications of naming a source, they have to make absolutely sure that they are correct. (Reputation damage etc, if they got it wrong then it would be catastrophic). This could even have to include lab testing the suspected product if there is any availability of it, and the suspected batch. Or even swab testing the production site for conclusive evidence.
However, what will be happening behind the scenes is that some products that are being identified as potential sources could be pulled from the shelves yet no public announcement made.
We may not find out at all, but as pps have already said, it’s a huge scale operation and will take time.

I just saw a news report which said the biggest group affected was 'young adults'

Me too - except it was unlikely to be the lettuce that poisoned me, it was far more likely to be the water used to be wash the lettuce.

I was so cross with myself - I'd been so careful about only eating freshly cooked food all week (The Gambia) and no ice cubes etc, and then had salad and fish for lunch because it was a BBQ and it looked really refreshing. Huge mistake. Very ill for 10 days...

Trying to think what more young adults eat.

Also pondering my own d&v today….

I’m wondering if it just coincides with people getting their bbqs out , undercooking meat and having bagged salads etc

Can't imagine bagged salads are hugely popular amongst young adults. Could be something like burgers.

Bagged salads are quick and easy and say pre washed (we always wash them again) but to a lot of people they are an easy option and I know loads of teenagers and younger people who are healthy and eat loads of salad !