Letter from Rainer Mueller of Eric's ECHO

Below is a letter from Rainer Mueller, founder of Eric's ECHO, an organization dedicated to helping victims of E. coli poisoning. Mr. Rainer founded the organization after his 13-year-old son died from E. coli poisoning after eating a contaminated hamburger in 1993. We asked if he would provide us with some insight on the current E. coli outbreak that has sickened over 170 people and killed at least one person. We encourage everyone to visit the organization's website, www.ericsecho.org.

Letter from Rainer Mueller dated September 25, 2006:

As our family approaches the 13th anniversary of the death of my my 13 year old son Eric in 1993, I find that the wounds caused by his passing are now being re-opened by this latest E.coli outbreak.

In 1993 it was ground beef that caused the terrible illnesses and death. At that time many people told me that they felt safe because they were vegetarians and only ate organic vegetables. Even then I warned them that this was a false sense of security. In the past 13 years the incidence of ground beef problems with pathogenic E.coli has decreased, but this has been offset by the rise in outbreaks caused by vegetables and fruits.

Why? Usually because cattle are still the predominate harbor of pathogenic E.coli -- in their intestinal tract. When these infected animals, which show no signs of distess or sickness, defecate, this fecal matter can enter our agricultural water supplies through run-off. Then somewhere downstream this water is used to irrigate vegetables. The cycle is complete.

E.coli cells can survive up to six weeks in completely dry material - like cattle manure, which is often used as an organic fertilizer. Just four pathogenic E.coli cells are enough to cause complications in humans because they redouble their numbers every 20 minutes - in less than 8 hours those four cells can become well over one million cells, and one billion of these cells can dance on the head of a pin.

What is the answer? We still haven't found a cure for pathogenic E.coli, there's no magic pill we can give cattle to eliminate this most lethal of almost all toxins known to mankind. But there is something that can be done today - irradiation. Better ground beef, most spices and many imported fruits are already safely irradiated.

Irradiation is a extremely effective and low cost method of killing not only pathogenic E.coli, as well as a myriad of foodborne illnesses. I recognize that irradiation is not a panacea, but until we can develop a more effective system, it is imperative that we use all the tools available to us to protect those most susceptible to death and injury from pathogenic E.coli -- our children.

Rainer Mueller
Eric's ECHO
www.ericsecho.org

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