(AP) — Food safety experts say they’re not surprised by a recent outbreak of a stomach bug that two states have linked to bagged salad.

That’s because the process of harvesting, washing, and packaging such products provides numerous opportunities for contamination.

Last year the Food and Drug Administration issued more than 20 recalls for packaged salads, romaine lettuce or spinach. Most recalls came after tests found listeria or E. coli bacteria present. Both can cause serious illness.

The current stomach bug that sickened hundreds in 15 states is caused by a parasite spread when people ingest food or water contaminated with feces. Iowa and Nebraska officials have tied it to prewashed bagged salad.

Iowa Epidemiologist Patricia Quinlisk says the product that sickened people is gone and packaged salads are safe to eat.

(AP) — A worker at a northwest Nebraska grain elevator has been injured in a 20-foot fall.

Gering Fire Chief Jay Templar says the man was doing maintenance work Thursday morning at the Crossroad Cooperative elevator in Lyman when he fell to a platform.

Scottsbluff Fire Captain Jamie Wallace says crews from Gering put the man into a medical sled and then lowered him with ropes to a Scottsbluff bucket truck.

Wallace says the man was talking when he was rescued.

The worker, whose name wasn’t released, was flown to a hospital in Scottsbluff.

A Crossroads employee told the Scottsbluff Star-Herald the man was “doing fine” but wouldn’t give details.

Lyman is 16 miles west of Scottsbluff.

Nebraska recorded one traffic fatality on Interstate 80 during the eight days of the I-80 Challenge enforcement July 24-31. The I-80 Challenge was a multi-state, multi-agency high visibility traffic enforcement operation encompassing all 2900 miles of the Interstate 80 corridor.

The one fatal crash in Nebraska occurred Thursday, July 25, in Seward County and claimed the life of Godfrey J. Brokenrope, 50, Aurora.  Brokenrope, the Chief Police in Aurora, Nebraska, crashed his motorcycle into the median after coming up on traffic slowed due to a previous accident. Brokenrope, who was wearing a helmet, was flown by medical helicopter to a Lincoln hospital. He died of his injuries on Saturday, July 27.

“We are extremely saddened by the loss of Chief Brokenrope,” said Colonel David Sankey, Superintendent of the Nebraska State Patrol. “As we think of Chief Brokenrope and his family, we are reminded that one life lost in a traffic crash is one too many.”

Troopers worked more than 2,900 enforcement hours, and dynamic message boards displayed safety messages across the state during the eight days of the I-80 Challenge.  A $15,500 grant from the Nebraska Office of Highway Safety (NOHS) helped to pay for overtime hours for troopers and communication specialists participating in the special enforcement effort.

Colonel Sankey said, “The I-80 Challenge allowed us to work with our law enforcement partners across the country to raise awareness of the need for voluntary compliance of all traffic safety laws.”

The following statistics are a reflection of statewide activity by the Nebraska State Patrol during the I-80 Challenge enforcement effort: