Source: POLITICO'S MORNING AGRICULTURE, 8/7/18

The FDA said Monday that it's exploring "potential links" between a recent deadly E. coli O157:H7 romaine lettuce outbreak stemming from Yuma, Ariz., and a large cattle-feeding operation near the lettuce growing area.

The agency issued the update after a meeting of the Leafy Greens Food Safety Task Force last week. The task force is part of FDA's response to the outbreak, which sickened at least 210 people in 36 states. Five people died. Public health officials never tracked down the source and no recall was issued.

What happened? The agency had already said publicly that it had found the outbreak strain in canal water, but at the meeting last week, officials presented other angles they're pursuing.

"FDA continues to consider that contaminated water coming into contact with produce, either through direct irrigation or other means, is a viable explanation for the pattern of contamination," the agency said in a statement. "But other hypotheses were discussed as well. FDA notes that the canal is close to a Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation (CAFO), a facility with a large number of cattle on the premises. The CAFO can hold in excess of 100,000 head of cattle at any one time and the FDA traceback information showed a clustering of romaine lettuce farms nearby."

The potential connection: FDA officials are "examining potential links between the CAFO, adjacent water, and geologic and other factors that may explain the contamination and its relationship to the outbreak" — an effort that will include more environmental testing. The agency said more details will be released in a forthcoming finalized environmental assessment report. The update can be found here.