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Fairgoers urged to lather up.

Article Excerpt
Byline: Tim Christie The Register-Guard

Among the sheep, cows, pigs and goats at next week's Lane County Fair, an unwanted visitor is sure to be lurking in the animal barns.

E. coli O157.

Where farm animals go, the virulent germ is sure to follow.

"I don't doubt whatsoever there's going to be E. coli here," said Warren Wong, the fair's managing director.

Fair officials have made changes to avoid a repeat of last summer, when 82 people fell ill after visiting the fair in the biggest E. coli outbreak in state history.

Signs with big black letters and blunt messages - "ANIMALS MAY CARRY BACTERIA OR GERMS - PETTING ANIMALS IS DISCOURAGED" - now plaster the animal barns inside and out and additional sandwich boards will be posted outside the barns when the fair begins Tuesday.

Another more detailed sign warns: "Parents make sure children do not put their hands in their mouths; do not eat or drink while in the animal barns; WASH HANDS after leaving animal areas."

Fairgoers will find hand-washing stations outside all the animal barns along with more signs. They can even go through an interactive exhibit that tests hand-washing skills.

But there's no guarantee, short of banning animals, that someone else won't get sick this year. E. coli occurs naturally in many cud-chewing animals and can be contracted by people through contact with their feces.

While public health investigators pinpointed the source of last year's E. coli infection - the...