Tuesday, November 21

THE WAR AGAINST SALMONELLA

Hey, remember that historic War Against E.Coli, where we finally eradicated dealt a severe blow to stopped talking about it until the next E.Coli outbreak? This story put me in mind of that: Salmonella strain turning up more in chicken

Exactly what does the headline mean by "more"? Well, according to the USDA, over the previous five years there was a fourfold increase in positive test results for salmonella enteritidis on chicken carcasses.

Salmonella sickens more than 40,00 Americans and kills 600 people every year, so this is a pretty serious statistic. But wait - "The research was done before the Agriculture Department started a new program to reduce positive tests for salmonella. Since then, the incidence of salmonella has fallen from 18 percent in 2005 to 10 percent today, [the agency] said." Oh, OK, see? Just like with the revolutionary new E.Coli procedures that will start paying off in real data any day now. Victory is just around the corner!

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