Natural disasters, such as flooding, contribute to a variety of physical, chemical, and/or microbiological hazards to crop systems and can cause major public health risks through fresh produce. Human pathogens such as norovirus, Salmonella, Campylobacter, and Escherichia coli O157:H7, can be introduced into fresh produce in the field during flood events through exposure to raw sewage from farm animals, such as chickens, swine, and goats, river or pond surface waters, and agricultural runoff. Researchers have shown that the microbial hazard, following a flood event, is not only from fruits and vegetables directly in contact with flood water, but, also, from the edible portions not in contact with flood water. Three presentations will flow, geographically, from New England, to the eastern shore of Virginia, and then to the southern state of Louisiana. The first presenter will discuss his research on mapping microbial contamination of two produce farms after catastrophic flooding caused by Hurricane Irene. He collected prevalence and genetic data. The ecology of pathogens associated with surface water under normal and flood conditions will be discussed.  In the second presentation, the speaaker will discuss her exciting data looking at the effects of flooding on the prevalence and diversity of Salmonella on the eastern shore of Virginia, over time.  The third presenter will talk about the survival of fecal indicators and the presence/absence of foodborne pathogens on cantaloupes after flooding in Louisiana.

Presentations