This has been interesting to follow. Not sure if many picked up the
tad hint of facetiousness of its' origins tho? Or should that be
written as fecetiousness? Great thread nonetheless, sort of reminds me
abit of the good ole CompuServe sailing forum days of a decade or so
ago.

Anyway, back to the subject here, I admit, prior to stepping on a boat
to go cruising at age 19/20 or so in the late 80's, I for one didn't
know more would be required than just rinsing produce in water in some
stops made - more like soaking in bleach/water. Admit again, ask me
what e-coli was back in those days, I may've guessed a goth band from
the UK. Put that down to living in Australian-style sheltered
terra-firma mum-did-all-the-cooking and I just wanna attend nightclubs
surburbia I suppose.

Admit once again, didn't know about cans and the potential of botulism
either - again - till cruising - cans were usually consumed within a
healthy timeframe in my then brick&mortar surrounds. If any swelled,
they usually went the next step and exploded. That was when my dad or
brothers would put their beer cans in for a quick chill and forget
about them.

Not sure what some cruisers can do in some cases about sticking to
their diet and/or determining what's healthy to consume or not when in
foreign ports tho? My other half during his circumnavigation (done
whilst a youngin') was often the guest in many a port & home - ranging
from a harbor master somewhere over there in Indonesia to bbq'ing with
the Zulus. He may not have felt quite right asking his Zulu hosts if
they used a meat thermometer.

Thankfully, the young circumnavigator I speak and spoke of at that
other thread made it back safe & sound after 7 years and wasn't
subject to the killer of cruisers. Even more amazing when you consider
he didn't have the internet or Gualiter back then to glean information
from either.
Cheers for now
Karen
Hi Rosalie, my other half told me of that story he heard (the
cruiser's death) back in 1987. So if true, it would've been prior to
that year.

Rosalie B. wrote in message . ..
(JAXAshby) wrote:

Why, it is E.Coli from fresh vegetables. For two million years, humans have
been eating fresh vegetables and finally we learn we can die from it.

What incredible stuff one can find out about on the Internet.

http://takehersailingboard.infopop.c...016594&f=99560
83605&m=630105035&r=479100135#479100135

btw, here what the FDA has to say about E.Coli. Not that the most susiptble
are the very young and the elderly, which of course is most cruising sailors
out there.

http://vm.cfsan.fda.gov/~mow/chap15.html

That article doesn't say that it is fresh vegetables. It says

Undercooked or raw hamburger (ground beef) has been implicated in many of the documented outbreaks, however E. coli O157:H7 outbreaks have implicated alfalfa sprouts, unpasteurized fruit juices, dry-cured salami, lettuce, game meat, and cheese curds. Raw milk was the vehicle in a school outbreak in Canada.

The vegetables mentioned are lettuce and alfalfa sprouts. Most of the
other things are meat or dairy.

This isn't new BTW - has been known since 1982. As far as the 'very
young and elderly', it says

All people are believed to be susceptible to hemorrhagic colitis, but young children and the elderly appear to progress to more serious symptoms more frequently.

I have not seen any cites that say that cruising sailors have been
killed.




grandma Rosalie