July 10, 2008, Dr. Rob Atwill met with Lesa Eidman Carlton, Executive Director of California Wool Growers Association, and Kerry Williams to discuss possible research projects. A leading concern right now among sheep ranchers is loss of access to grazing crop residue over concerns that sheep will contaminate the field with E. coli O157:H7, both in central California and down in Imperial Valley. How to structure the project and best involve private land owners was reviewed. To support these efforts, and to begin generating background data on sheep, Dr. Bruce Hoar, Department of Medicine and Epidemiology, in collaboration with Dr. Atwill and with funding from the Center for Food Animal Health, School of Veterinary Medicine, UC Davis, have begun monitoring various sheep herds for E. coli O157:H7 around the Sacramento Valley area.

With additional collaboration from Morgan Doran, UC Cooperative Extension Livestock and Natural Resources Advisor, Sonoma County, and Dr. Trevor Suslow, Department of Plant Sciences, UC Davis, a proposal was submitted to Round I Specialty Crop Block Grant, California Department of Food and Agriculture, to expand this work, with Dr. Hoar as the Principal Investigator.
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On June 9, 2008, WIFSS presented a day long interactive Agroterorrism Preparedness course in Nampa, Idaho, facilitated by curriculum collaborators Walter Okamoto and Jim Loucks. The course was well received by a group of thirty veterinarians, large livestock producer safety and environmental managers, law enforcement officers, fire fighters, representatives of the University of Idaho Agricultural Extension Service, and health department public information officers. This diverse audience represented federal, state, local and private sector entities coming together preparing for a frontline response to the intentional introduction of a foreign animal or plant disease or the deliberate contamination of the food supply, farm-to-fork.

Nampa, the state's second largest city, is situated in Canyon County. With approximately 7% of the county employed in agriculture and an agricultural industry that produces billions of dollars in revenue each year, the community takes great interest in following governmental and agricultural issues. Upon learning of the course, The Idaho Press Tribune, a daily newspaper in Nampa assigned reporter Mike Butts to look into the course's curriculum. Butts attended a part of the course held at a local fire department training facility and conducted interviews of fire officials in attendance and Instructor Okamoto. A two-column article about the course appeared on page 3 of the newspaper the next day. Click here to view a PDF copy of the full article.

To date, WIFSS' Preparedness Training Program has presented courses from the WIFSS DHS-Certified Food Systems Disaster Preparedness Curriculum in over 200 venues in 25 states (2004-2008). The demand for the full curriculum is increasing as communities, states, and industries recognize their vulnerability and seek ways to enhance their all-hazards preparedness. To learn more, visit WIFSS Disaster Preparedness Training Program's web site.
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While it is illegal to ship or slaughter non-ambulatory cattle for human consumption, cattle with low energy reserves or injury may become recumbent at the packing plant. Unlawful efforts to move such cows into the human food chain lead to a 143-million-pound beef recall in southern California earlier this year and ultimately the closing of the involved plant. In an effort to help prevent similar occurrences in the future, on July 9th, 2008 the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine and other WIFSS partners joined efforts to offer a one-day symposium addressing the causes, prevention, humane movement, care and euthanasia (when necessary) of non-ambulatory cattle. The program used slide sets, videos, a cow moving demonstration and "live-fire" training in the safe use of captive bolt devices. The beta-test of the curriculum was delivered to a standing-room-only audience at the Veterinary Medicine Teaching and Research Center in Tulare, CA. The program received excellent written evaluations from the more than 70 industry and regulatory participants. The program was recorded for internet delivery and we have already received requests for repeat presentations. Click on the thumbnails (to the right) or on the following links to view larger photos from the training session: Photo 1 | Photo 2 | Photo 3.

This training will augment an on-line dairy beef website developed by the University of California's Cooperative Extension and other WIFSS partners. This interactive curriculum uses narrated slide presentations, streaming video and quizzes addressing issues such as prevention of drug residues, carcass condemnation and BSE. Dairy Beef: Maximizing Quality & Profits can be viewed at: http://dairybeef.ucdavis.edu/.
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Far from being simply a waste product, appropriately utilized animal manure is almost the perfect soil amendment, having both fast and slow phases of nutrient release and a substantial organic matter component to aerate and rejuvenate crop land. With the dramatically rising cost of petroleum-based fertilizers, future food production in the U.S. will necessarily and heavily depend on the sustainable recycling of animal manure. Animal manure, however, may contain pathogens such as Salmonella and verotoxic E. coli capable of causing food-borne illness. WIFSS recently completed a pictorial for dairy producers describing the "Do's" and "Don'ts" of manure pathogen management. This extraordinarily accessible tool uses easily interpreted full-color photos explaining which manure practices would promote produce food safety ("Do's") or threaten it ("Don'ts"). The pictorial has been direct-mailed to each of the state's dairy producers (approximately 1,900 across the state). Up next, WIFSS is currently developing a web area where visitors can go to obtain additional information regarding the outreach project including links to view and download the poster brochure.

A special "thank you" to all our partners and collaborators for their contribution of photos and/or expert review.
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New regulations affecting 1,500 of California's 1,900 dairies require that "Waste and land application areas shall be managed to prevent contamination of crops grown for human consumption." In order to provide technical advice to dairy farmers and crop growers, WIFSS is facilitating an on-going Crop Safety Technical Advisory Committee (CSTAC). Participants of CSTAC include the Central Valley and State Water Boards, the California Department of Food and Agriculture, and the California Department of Public Health. The work of the committee will be performed in close consultation with other stakeholder experts, including those from commodity grower boards and the dairy industry. Phase one, recently completed, was to survey which human food crops currently receive dairy manure as fertilizer and what farm management practices are being used to protect consumers. The next phase of the program will be a systematic literature review to determine which combination of farm and processing practices adequately protect the various commodities. Outreach materials for dairy producers and crop farmers will follow. The last phase of this program will be prioritization and scheduling of WIFSS research to address information gaps identified during the assessments.
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June 9-12, WIFSS' Associate Director, Dr. Harris, attended the "Future Challenges to Microbial Food Safety" Conference sponsored by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) in the Netherlands. Among the diverse audience were food safety specialists from Europe, North America, and Australia. The 3-day conference was a combination of presentations and breakout sessions that provided significant opportunity to interact with other participants. The proceedings of the conference will be published in a future issue of the International Journal of Food Microbiology. For additional information, e-mail Dr. Harris.
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Following the Netherlands conference (above), Dr. Harris, attended the "Developing Responses to Emerging Global Food Safety Issues" Symposium" where she gave a presentation entitled, "E. coli O157:H7 and Leafy Greens - California Industry Response." This 3-day symposium was co-sponsored by the UK Government Central Science Laboratory (CSL) and the Joint Institute for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (JIFSAN, University of Maryland) and held at the CSL facilities outside of York, UK. The conference consisted of four sessions: 1) Responding to a Food Safety Issue--Case Studies, 2 & 3) Tools for Developing Response Capabilities, and 4) Building Better Capabilities through Lessons Learned. For additional regarding the conference, visit CSL's web site or e-mail Dr. Harris.
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On June 27th, WIFSS hosted a half-day briefing for four Congressional staffers and one state Assembly staff. Facilatated by Bernd Hamann, Associate Vice Chancellor of the Office of Research and Dean Bennie Osburn from the School of Veterinary Medicine, the briefing program reviewed current activities and future plans including on-going research and outreach projects being conducted by WIFSS and partners, the co-located Center for Produce Safety, and the UC Davis Biogas Energy Project. Congressional legislative staffers at the briefing included Gina Banks (from Senator Feinstein office), Brandon Ida (Senator Boxer), Chris Flores (Congresswoman Matsui) and Alexandra Synder (Congressman Lungren). Attending from the California State Assembly Local Government Committee, chaired by Assemblywoman Caballero, was J. Stacey Sullivan. Following presentations and discussions at WIFSS, participants were invited to tour the UC Davis' Biogas Energy Project.

Written evaluations from the external attendees, following the event, indicated that they found the briefing useful and would be interested in future meetings; particularly, as they would relate to campus research efforts on climate change, energy efficiency, alternative energy research, public health needs, and research on foods for health.
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The Center for Produce Safety has announced a "Request for Research Proposals" directed to enhance the safety of fresh fruits and vegetables. This is a system-wide University of California effort through Agriculture and Natural Resources (UCANR), being administered through the Center for Produce Safety. The completed proposal is to be uploaded to the CPS Grant Site, no later than 5:00pm (PST) on August 31, 2008. Any individual or group affiliated with a university or governmental agency that has appropriate research capabilities is eligible and encouraged to apply. Total funds available: $1,000,000. For additional information, please email Bonnie Fernandez.
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