The Ontario Cattlemen’s Association hopes to use one consumer concern to alleviate another.
The group is funding research to create a genetically modified crop that may ease concerns about antibiotic levels in beef.
Researchers at the University of Guelph are trying to do what pet owners have done for years – hide medicine in animal food.
Scientists there are attempting to produce a transgenic line of alfalfa that carries a bacterial gene that will help immunize cattle against a common type of pneumonia. The animal would ingest this oral vaccine in its regular feed rations, eliminating the need for a vaccine injection.
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Reggie Lo, professor of microbiology at the university, said the goal is to create an oral vaccine that is more efficient than the traditional needle injection.
“If we can demonstrate that we can efficiently deliver a vaccine that actually protects animals, hopefully we will reduce the practice of putting antibiotics in the feed.”
There is a fear among consumers that ingesting meat laced with antibiotics can lead to antibiotic resistance in humans, said Graeme Hedley, executive vice-president of the OCA.
“There’s a lot of public concern these days about antibiotic resistance and the amount of antibiotics that are used in raising livestock.”
That’s part of the reason the OCA is helping fund this project. Another is the potential of doing away with needles.
“Every time you shove a needle in cattle, you create the potential for doing damage to the meat.”
Injections can cause muscle inflammation and scar tissue, which lead to a tougher meat product.
It’s also an unpleasant experience for both producer and animal, said professor Lo.
“Traditional vaccination by needle injection requires rounding up and restraining the cattle and is costly and stressful to animals.”
Hedley isn’t overly worried about swapping concerns over antibiotic resistance with those over cattle consuming genetically modified alfalfa. Most of the GMO debate so far has centred on humans directly consuming crops that have been engineered to be resistant to pesticides and herbicides. The alfalfa is a different kind of transgenic crop and it is not being eaten directly by humans. Besides, there are mechanisms in place to protect the public from the dangers of science, said Hedley.
“Before (transgenic alfalfa) ever gets licensed for use, it has to be cleared by Health Canada.”
Lo said the research is at least three to five years away from facing regulatory hurdles. Right now scientists at the university are still trying to transfer the bacterial DNA into recipient alfalfa plants. This will likely occupy their time for the remainder of 1999.
Then they have to establish a line of transgenic alfalfa and test it for the presence of the bacterial antigens. The last step will be to see if the oral vaccine produces the desired immune response in cattle.
