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January 23, 1999

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E. coli can take flight

Fruit flies can carry a common food-poisoning agent into wounds on an apple, a study shows, but pretreating the fruit with rot-inhibiting microbes can prevent the infection.

References:

Janisiewicz, W.J., et al. 1999. Fate of Escherichia coli O157:H7 on fresh-cut apple tissue and its potential for transmission by fruit flies. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 65(January):1.

Further Readings:

1997. Outbreaks of Escherichia coli O157:H7 infection and cryptosporidiosis associated with drinking unpasteurized apple cider—Connecticut and New York, October 1996. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report 46(Jan. 10):4.

1996. Outbreaks of Escherichia coli O157:H7 infections associated with drinking unpasteurized commercial apple juice—British Columbia, California, Colorado, and Washington, October 1996. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report 45(Nov. 8):975

Besser, R.E., et al. 1993. An outbreak of diarrhea and hemolytic uremic syndrome from Escherichia coli O157:H7 in fresh-pressed apple cider. Journal of the American Medical Association 269(May 5):2217.

Christensen, D. 1994. Microorganisms used to fight fruit rot. Science News 145(June 4):359.

Janisiewicz, W.J. 1998. Biocontrol of postharvest diseases of temperate fruits. In Plant-Microbe Interactions and Biological Control, G.J. Boland and L.D. Kuykendall, eds. New York: Marcel Dekker, Inc.

Janisiewicz, W.J., and S.N. Jeffers. 1997. Efficacy of commercial formulation of two biofungicides for control of blue mold and gray mold of apples in cold storage. Crop Protection 16:629.

Janisiewicz, W.J., and B. Bors. 1995. Development of a microbial community of bacterial and yeast antagonists to control wound-invading postharvest pathogens of fruits. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 61(September):3261.

Mlot, C. 1997. Can houseflies spread the ulcer bacterium? Science News 151(June 7):350.

Sources:

Wojciech J. Janisiewicz
U.S. Department of Agriculture
Appalachian Fruit Research Station
Agricultural Research Service
45 Wiltshire Road
Kearneysville, WV 25430

From Science News, Vol. 155, No. 4, January 23, 1999, p. 63. Copyright © 1999, Science Service.


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