Harmful strains of E. coli

Failure to test for six strains of E. coli leaves gaps in nation's food safety network
Two years ago, a 13-year-old girl killed by E. coli, but the strain that sickened the Ohio teen falls outside federal regulations, with neither government officials nor food manufacturers testing for it. IEH Laboratories, north of Seattle, found that about 1 percent of ground beef samples were tainted by six harmful E. coli strains (O26, O45, O111, O121, O145, and O103 )-- including the one that killed the teen -- that are not regulated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
But a push is afoot to change that. The CDC has called for stepped-up testing, and on Thursday, Wal-Mart announced a beef safety program aimed at curbing these strains and other pathogens. Public health officials in Ohio, Michigan and New York are looking into an outbreak of E. coli O145 that has sickened perhaps dozens of people. In Colorado, 10 inmates were sickened by E. coli O111, the same strain that killed the 13-year-old girl. Health officials in Ohio and Michigan are testing food samples, but so far no one knows what the culprit was. The agency has named only E. coli O157:H7 a hazardous adulterant, requiring testing and recalls. "It's by far the most common cause of illness and outbreaks. The six other strains E. coli O26, O45, O111, O121, O145, and O103 -- are considered less pervasive, sickening an estimated 37,000 people a year and killing nearly 30. But they could be causing more illnesses that labs don't detect because they're not testing for them. The USDA is looking at regulating the additional strains.As part of President Barack Obama's emphasis on food safety, Vilsack has ordered a complete review of the USDA's food safety regulations, said Caleb Weaver, the agency's chief spokesman.
Source: Oregon local news. http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2010/05/failure_to_test_for_six_strain.html