Cattle Disease and Egg Recall

 Cattle Disease and Egg Recall plus Food Forethought. I’m Greg Martin with today’s Northwest Report.

USDA researchers are on the way to developing an effective vaccine for a strain of leptospirosis found in cattle. David Alt of USDA's National Animal Disease Center explains how a contagious disease is able to transmit to humans, cattle, and other mammals.

ALT: In the United States it is not an extraordinarily prevalent disease, however worldwide it is something because of sanitation issues in other countries where we see this cause issues. Sanitation issues with respect to exposure to animals that may be carrying leptospira as well as conditions that people may live in. Often times the infections can be associated with flooding where you may see leptospira washed out of soil and put into the flood waters and people may be exposed to those there. They may also come in contact with certain rodents that may be carrying some of the leptospira as well and therefore become exposed to that.

A Minnesota food company is recalling more than a million hard-cooked eggs distributed to 34 states after testing revealed some may be contaminated with listeria. The eggs were sold for institutional use so general consumers don’t have to worry. Eggs were sold in Oregon and Washington. Listeria can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems.

Now with today’s Food Forethought, here’s Lacy Gray.

I have always said that gardening was good therapy, that I come away feeling refreshed and revitalized after spending time digging in the dirt. Now there’s proof positive that the euphoria of gardening that I and many other people experience is not just related to the sheer pleasure of doing something we enjoy, but has a scientific basis involving the microbes in dirt and how they tweak the same neurons in the brain as prescription mood enhancers while improving brain function. Scientists have actually been researching this “hygiene hypothesis” over the last several years, especially when studying the immune systems of children and how playing in the dirt strengthens their resistance to disease. Here is proof that we need to reconnect with nature. Don’t worry if you’re not an avid gardener, just get outside for a walk, romp in the park with the kids, or play a game of touch football, if you’re like me that will give you plenty of “up close and personal” face time with the ground! Cleanliness may be next to godliness, but getting a little dirty will certainly have you feeling more divine and “heavenly” in the long run.

Thanks Lacy. That’s today’s Northwest Report. I’m Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network.