A vaccine could be on the market within two or three years that would immunize cattle from being the source of potentially fatal E. coli 0157:H7 bacteria, a lead researcher on the project predicted last week.
Brett Finlay from the University of British Columbia’s biotechnology laboratory told a Parliament Hill meeting Feb. 13 that the vaccine now is being widely tested, including in a 36,000-head trial group of Alberta cattle.
“We have to make sure the science works and it appears to work,” he said. “There are over 14 million cattle in Canada. If this works, and all the data says it works, we could vaccinate all of them.”
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Finlay said people working on commercializing the product say it could be done for less than $1 per animal.
“I think we’re looking at two or three years turn around time,” he said. “Hopefully sooner rather than later, it will be on the market. The last thing we want to do is move too quickly and get something onto the market that doesn’t work.”
E. coli 0157:H7, the same strain that caused seven deaths in Walkerton, Ont., several years ago, led to tougher Ontario nutrient management rules. It causes 500 deaths in North America each year, usually among young children, the elderly or people who are already ill. The bacteria are present in cattle manure. Ruminant animals are not adversely affected by it.
Finlay said it is a bacterial mutation that first was detected in 1982 and has since become a major health issue. And it is spreading, appearing more prevalently in cattle and recently in goats and sheep.
The vaccine, developed by UBC researchers with support from the livestock industry and governments and in co-operation with such groups as the Saskatoon-based Veterinary Infectious Diseases Organization, stops the naturally occurring E. coli bacteria from attaching itself to cattle intestinal walls and creating the toxin that is excreted.
Finlay said he began to work on creating a vaccine after at first concentrating on developing a medicine to help children ill with E. coli infection. “One day, I thought ‘why treat the victims? Why not try to stop it at source?'”
He said there has been significant interest from the United States and Europe because the E. coli bacteria is aggressive and appears to be rapidly spreading.
He used his speech to promote the potential for science and biotechnology to create health benefits and products that can control bacterial infections.
But when cautioned by House of Commons agriculture committee chair Paul Steckle about the message he was sending to consumers about growing evidence of E. coli spread in Canada’s cattle herd, Finlay said he was not making allegations about the safety of Canadian food.
“Canada’s food is safe,” he said.
