Everyone remain calm ... and wash your hands.
I didn't like that piece. It's quite dismissive in the author's attitude of the fact that many thousands of Americans are sickened by
E. Coli and some die--and they're not getting it from not washing their hands. The author ignores the role that industrial agriculture/livestock and food processing has had on actually creating a situation where many thousands are exposed to this threat.
I was just reading the other day that
E. Coli was never much of a public health issue until after 1950. I'm assuming that is because farming, livestock, and what we ate were very different from today's situation. People aren't getting sick because little Johnny didn't wash his hands after going #2. We're getting sick with
E. Coli from that hamburger or from the sprouts we added to our salad from the salad bar or the strawberries we put onto top of our ice cream. That's why when there is recall of some food product due to
E. Coli, it generally has to be done across many states or even nationwide because potentially millions of us could be at risk in any given incident.
Fear mongering is not good, but neither is trying to misdirect us from the important factors underlying some issue.