April 5, 2013
UC Davis

May 9-10, 2013
Salinas, CA

May 14-16, 2013
San Diego, CA

Saharuetai “Fhon” Jeamsripong, a  Ph.D. candidate in the Epidemiology Graduate Group working with Michele Jay-Russell, Jennifer Carabez, Rob Atwill, Anne-Laure Moyne, and Linda Harris, presented a poster on their work to the IGPS Symposium.  The poster was entitled In-Field transfer and survival of indicator E. coli from wildlife feces to Romaine lettuce.  Her poster won third place in the People’s Choice for Best Poster at the symposium. The funding for this project is USDA NIFA Specialty Crop Research Initiative. 

Michele Jay-Russell also presented the work to an industry audience at Hartnell College’s Western Food Safety Summit, and at United Fresh Produce Association, Food Safety and Technology Council.  The poster also was presented at the United Fresh Produce Research Poster session during their general meeting and trade show.

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Saharuetai Jeamsripong with her poster at the Interdisciplinary Graduate and Professional Student Symposium

Rob Atwill and Xunde Li met with representatives from the Jilin University Heping Campus, Jilin Provincial Food Safety Office, and Songyuan City Food Safety Office, in Changchun and Songyuan, Jilin Province, China, in April to discuss problems associated with food safety in China.  Rob talked about food safety modernization in the US, and Xunde talked about food safety regulations in the US.  Officials from China look forward to future collaboration with WIFSS conducting research on food safety.

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Rob Atwill and Xunde Li meeting with food safety regulatory officials in Jilin, China

Benjamin, L., E.R. Atwill, M. Jay-Russell, M. Cooley, D. Carychao, L. Gorski, and R.E. Mandrell.  2013. Occurrence of generic Escherichia coli, E. coli O157 and Salmonella spp. in water and sediment from leafy green produce farms and streams on the Central California coast.  Int. J. Food Microbiol. 165(1):65-76. doi: 10.1016/j.ijfoodmicro.2013.04.003. [Epub ahead of print]

This study aimed to identify climate and management variables associated with generic Escherichia coli in irrigation water on leafy green produce farms and to measure the prevalence of E. coli O157 and Salmonella spp. in irrigation and non-irrigation water sources on leafy green farms in the central California coast. Salmonella was detected in 6% (6/96) water and 4.3% (3/67) sediment samples. Generic E. coli concentration was not significantly associated with the presence of either E. coli O157 or Salmonella in water or sediment samples, suggesting that, for this 2.5-year period and geographical location, generic E. coli would likely be an unreliable indicator bacteria for predicting the presence of these food- and waterborne pathogens in a key produce production environment.

The following papers were presented last year in Monterey, CA, at the 25th Vertebrate Pest Conference and are now available in the Proceedings of the conference:

Atwill, E.R., M. Jay-Russell, X. Li, E. Vivas, C. Kilonzo, and R. Mandrell.  2012. Methodological and epidemiological concerns when comparing microbial food safety risks from wildlife, livestock, and companion animals.  Proc. 25th Vertebrate Pest Conference, R.M. Timm, Ed., UC Davis. 

Jay-Russell, M.T.,  J. Montfort, Y. Liu, S. Huang, L. Gorski, M. Cooley, R. Mandrell, J. Wheeler, D. Reis, X. Li, and E.R. Atwill.  2012. Zoonotic risks from amphibians and reptiles.   Proc. 25th Vertebrate Pest Conference, R.M. Timm, Ed., UC Davis. 

Li, X., E. R. Atwill, E. Vivas, T. Vodovoz, C. Xiao, and M. Jay-Russell.  2012. Detection and Prevalence of Cryptosporidium spp. and Giardia spp. from Wild Rodents Adjacent to Produce Production Fields in California.  Proc. 25th Vertebrate Pest Conference, R.M. Timm, Ed., UC Davis. 

To purchase full papers from the Wildlife Food Safety Session at the 25th Vertebrate Pest Conference, click here.

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