Livestock feces runoff into irrigation water is also responsible for most cases of fruit and vegetable E. Coli contamination (such as the recent one of lettuce:

Livestock feces runoff into irrigation water is also responsible for most cases of fruit and vegetable E. Coli contamination (such as the recent one of lettuce: https://www.independent.com/news/2018/dec/14/adam-brothers-farm-identified-e-coli-outbreak/ https://www.independent.com/news/2018/dec/14/adam-brothers-f...) E. Coli is not a normal plant pathogen (it does not infect a plant even if it comes in contact with the roots), and is only able to survive in soil for a couple of weeks. There are claims that E. Coli outbreaks have been caused by wild animals such as deer (https://www.ecoliblog.com/e-coli-outbreaks/deer-poop-conclusively-linked-to-strawberry-e-coli-outbreak/ https://www.ecoliblog.com/e-coli-outbreaks/deer-poop-conclus...), however, no mention is ever made of alternative hypotheses. What do you think is more likely: dozens/hundreds of acres of crop being infected by a handful of deer strolling through and leaving some droppings, or the deer drinking the infected irrigation water and contracting the E. Coli, which shows up in their droppings? How much do you think the likelihood changes if you know that the E. Coli is antibiotic resistant (cows are continually fed antibiotics, primarily because it makes them grow faster)? There are even more outlandish claims about birds (apparently geese are now supposed to be tactical precision bombers targeting our food supply with biological weapons). This wild-animals theory also fails to explain why every single crop field is not continuously infected with E. Coli from rodent droppings from the hundreds or even thousands of mice, rats, and other rodents that live in and around the fields.