Where is the smoking gun if not in wildlife?

The Fresh Produce Industry Discussion Group has a thread about the LA Times article that states wildlife are unlikely E. coli carriers. In the article, the measures taken against wildlife intrusion on farms were described and given context

After wild pigs were linked to the deadly E. coli outbreak in California spinach nearly three years ago, Central Coast growers started shooting and poisoning wildlife.

Workers on one large farm killed 33 deer in a single year. Farmers poisoned ponds to get rid of frogs, ripped out trees and bushes and erected miles of expensive fencing.

But two years of testing wild animals and birds in the region suggests that only a small fraction actually carry the strain of Escherichia coli responsible for the contamination.

The results, released by the state Department of Fish and Game this week, "show that wildlife are not the Typhoid Marys some people think they are and some of the extreme measures are not necessary," said state wildlife biologist Terry Palmisano

Later......

Hank Giclas, vice president of the Western Growers Assn., said farmers are caught in a bind between satisfying wholesalers' demands and conservation practices.

"We're very supportive" of the E. coli study, he added. "We want to fundamentally understand where the risks are -- and are not -- and have designs that minimize the risk with the least negative impact on the environment in which people farm."

But he said his group, which helped draw up the voluntary standards, would wait until the research was finished before taking any action on the guidelines. In the meantime, an effort is underway to expand the safety program nationally.

The E. coli testing is part of a broader investigation by government and university scientists that will sample livestock, water and soil. More wildlife will also be tested.

TK: So where is the smoking gun - water, wildlife, livestock or processing plants themselves? Check out the speculations and add your own at the Fresh Produce Industry Discussion Group here.