Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
9
Zoonotic Diseases
Michael Greger, M.D.
Eating spinach is a wonderful way to get so many important nutri-
ents for our bodies, but getting
E. coli
—an intestinal bug—from the
dark leafy green isn't so wonderful. The
E. coli
didn't come from
the spinach, though, since plants don't have intestines. The bac-
teria came from fecal material, the cause of nearly all food poison-
ing. People can eat French fries without fear of contracting potato
blight because the pathogens that affect plants don't tend to affect
us. No one has ever come down with Dutch elm disease. The source
of most food poisoning is products of animal origin, with chicken
meat being the single most-common cause. Viruses found in fresh
meat can even cause “butcher's warts” to erupt from the hands of
those who handle fresh poultry, fish, and other meat for a living.
Every year, one in four Americans comes down with food poi-
soning, all caused by viruses or bacteria that can be destroyed
by proper cooking. Unless one treats their kitchen like a biohaz-
ard lab, there can be cross-contamination of contagion. In meat-
eating households, researchers have found more fecal bacteria
in the kitchen—on sponges, dish towels, the sink, and counter
surfaces—than they found swabbing the rim of the toilet. We
shouldn't have to cook the crap out of our food.
Michael Greger, M.D., is the director of Public Health and Animal Agriculture at the
Humane Society of the United States and author of
Bird Flu: A Virus of Our Own
Hatching.
