Are all the E.Coli outbreaks deliberate attacks on US citizens?

Question

How hard would it be for illegal farm workers
to sabotage our food supply?

Answer 1

No. And very.

Answer 2

Would illegal farm workers jeopardize their American jobs by sabotaging the food supply? I wouldn't think so but who know. I know there are occasional E Coli outbreaks but we're having too many right now for me to not consider terrorism. Too many people are too disbelieving about the real seriousness of terrorism. Our lives depend on stopping the terrorism and we'd better get real serious about it.

Answer 3

Well, pretty easy, actually, with E-Coli. Some people here don't understand much about it. . . one person says it 'lives in the dirt' - well, no not really. It lives in bowels, like someone else said. It will live for a limited time in feces - that is, fertilizer put on fields, in which produce is grown. Also, it can be passed, as someone else said, through unwashed hands, after an infected person has used the bathroom. It cannot be transmitted in spit, dirt itself, etc.

If a person wanted to isolate and grow some of the E-Coli bacteria in a lab, it would be very easy. E-Coli is pretty much available to any college bio/vet/med student. Then all one would have to do is transmit it to food - of course, how would they get enough to transmit it to so MUCH food? It needs specific conditions to grow - it can't for example grow on a plant.

So IF a person could produce it en masse in a lab, and then transmit it to fertilizer, well....maybe. It isn't even spread very easily between people (those of us who are clean and wash our hands!)

However, you want to consider that there are much better ways to effect the food supply (and consequent food-based economy) than that. I think terrorists would consider something more like infecting our meat supplies, livestock, etc, or introducing crop destroying organisms to destroy massive amounts of produce production.

Most people bent on hurting us, know how terribly fast the FDA and our government and mass media works together to stop a little E-Coli outbreak in its tracks.

I feel sorry for Taco Bell. I hope people aren't going to use this incident to accuse illegal immigrants of things that aren't true. I hope it doesn't increase inter-cultural strife. (PS I am totally against illegal immigration for any reasons.)

Answer 4

It wouldn't be difficult at all. As a matter of fact, there are many people who subscribe to the belief that the current out breaks of E. Coli and various viruses are due to terrorists.

If this is the case, our government could possibly even be aware of it but would be with holding the information to prevent mass hysteria.

Another good example are the out breaks on cruise ships recently.

Answer 5

Well its all the workers who dont follow the handwashing rules and pick things up off the floor and feed it to us and spit on the food and everything i hear they do to food in restaraunts. Its all those nasty workers who dont give a rats A**.
E coli lives in your bowels. Its people not washing there hands after the bathroom then touching Our Food!!

Answer 6

No, E. Coli outbreaks happen from time to time. Not everything bad that happens is a result of some terrorist group out to kill all U.S. citizens.

Answer 7

No - the problem is that E. Coli is found in dirt etc. So if the ground has it and food (vegetables etc) aren't washed it is very easy to get contaminated.

Answer 8

I ask that yesterday, I think they are just filthy pigs and just take sh*ts right there in the fields.

Answer 9

no...
it is migrant farm workers pooing on our veggies.

Answer 10

I wouldn't doubt it.