But no cases in humans have been reported.
Most contamination cases in humans involved eating liver, where the drug is known to accumulate.
Until the 1990s, most E. coli cases in humans came from eating contaminated hamburger.
An outbreak of monkeypox tentatively traced to a Gambian giant pouched rat in the shipment has caused 81 confirmed or suspected cases in humans, mostly in the Midwest.
But there have not been any confirmed cases in humans; 130 New Yorkers have had their blood tested, but the results were negative.
The number of cases in humans became known more recently, and health officials announced the four deaths at the end of this week.
The worrisome convergence involves two factors, she said: the apparent westward track of recent avian flu cases in humans (the latest were in Russia and Finland) and the lack of available medicines and vaccines to fight the virus.
There have been no confirmed cases in humans this year, but the discovery of the virus in mosquitoes and dead birds again this year has prompted some municipalities to begin spraying pesticide.
What's more, there are no recorded cases in humans.
There have been 606 confirmed cases in humans since 2003 and 357 deaths.
Osterholm also points out that many mild cases in humans may be being missed.
