Unasked Questions

The New York Times reports that my state of Connecticut is mulling restrictions on raw-milk sales after last summer's devastating E. coli outbreak which I never heard of before. The story, of course, had the requisite number of quotes from Concerned Parents:

Erin Barringer of West Hartford, whose daughter contracted E. coli from a child who drank raw milk, according to health officials, is helping to campaign for the stricter legislation. “It can be frustrating at times because I think everybody’s lost sight of who the victims are,” said Ms. Barringer, whose daughter, Emma, was 2 years and 10 months old when she got sick, even though she herself never drank raw milk.

This is indeed a tragic case, and nobody likes it when innocent toddlers suffer. But there's something this story doesn't address: E. coli is not airborne-contagious. So far as I know, it's spread mainly through the feces of infected animals and/or people. So what exactly did this little girl do, to come down with an E. coli infection?

If it's what I think it is, it was only a matter of time before the child came down with something nasty, raw-milk sales or no. Instead of lobbying the statehouse, maybe Erin Barringer should -- I dunno -- teach her daughter not to eat feces?