Rope offers low-tech solution to E. coli testing problems

When it comes to E. coli, cleverness can be more important than intelligence. Case in point: researchers working for the Alberta Agriculture and Food division have found that the quickest and easiest way to detect E. coli infection in cattle is to simply hang long pieces of rope in cattle pens the night before the slaughter. Cows are naturally curious (if slow) creatures, and their love for a good chew is well known, and so in the morning scientists are sure to have large amounts of saliva samples to test in the laboratory. (Fecal and hide samples are used to compare with the rope samples.) According to the Alberta researchers, the cattle from pens that are identified as having high levels of E. coli could potentially be managed differently, controlling the spread of the bacteria. The key point, however, is that the infected cattle never make it into the slaughterhouse in the first place.