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The grant that we are proud to announce today describes the study that is being done on
STEC, or it is an E. Coli strain that produces what is called shiga toxin. It is the strains
in E. Coli that are so dangerous to those who would eat meat or other vegetables that
are contaminated with this organism. So what we are interested in knowing is where does
the E. Coli come from and how does it get on cattle and how does it wash off of cattle?
How does it get into water supplies? And what is the epidemiology of that bacterium before
it leaves the farm and gets to the farmer’s fork or the mother’s cooking dish?
What is required to make these programs work of course is that there be a researcher and
then link to education and extension agents who can help to transmit that information.
The key to making this work is that we have an extension component coming out of Michigan
State University that will help to get the information out to those who can use it the
most. So the linkage between research, education and extension is something that we have focused
on at NIFA this year, perhaps more than we have ever done before.