A vaccine for E. coli 0157:H7 has been licensed for distribution to veterinarians across Canada, but who will pay to inject this groundbreaking vaccine remains an unanswered question.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency issued a conditional licence to Bioniche Life Sciences Inc. in late December.
The vaccine, which is funded by western Canadian beef producers, is the first in the world to treat E. coli 0157:H7 and is also the first vaccine that treats livestock for a disease that is harmful to humans.
Jennifer Shea of Bioniche said the debate over who will pay for it may be a tricky one.
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Research began at the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization in Saskatoon about eight years ago and Andy Potter of VIDO hopes Bioniche will receive full licensing next year.
In testing 30,000 cattle over the past four years, Bioniche showed CFIA scientists that the vaccine was capable of significantly reducing infection rates. A VIDO trial achieved reductions of up to 99.47 percent.
University of Nebraska-Lincoln researchers found that in feedlot trials where some cattle were vaccinated and others not, 0.7 percent of treated animals had rectums colonized by E. coli 0157:H7 at slaughter 58 days after treatment, compared to 27 percent of non-treated animals.
Rick Rasby, a professor of animal science at the University of Nebraska, said he feels the Bioniche vaccine has great potential as a pre-slaughter intervention for controlling E. coli in feeder cattle.
VIDO director Lorne Babiuk said the vaccine is an opportunity to significantly improve human health.
He and other scientists say government health authorities estimate
E. coli 0157:H7 may be responsible for health care costs and lost productivity of up to $750 million a year in North America.
The bacterium produces the toxin shiga-vero, which can kill humans when it contaminates meat during processing or when manure-infected water is used to irrigate or process vegetables, which happened late in 2006 when spinach and lettuce were infected in the United States.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the bacteria caused 16 percent of infected people during recent outbreaks in the U.S. to develop the kidney damaging hemolytic uremic syndrome, which is fatal for five percent of those who develop the disease. Some of those infected who recover suffer severe disabilities.
The vaccine was created through a partnership between Bioniche, VIDO, the University of British Columbia and the Alberta Research Council.
Bioniche chief executive officer Graeme McRae said the vaccine should meet full Canadian federal approval sometime in 2007 once the company can show further effective studies for the product.
Potter said the vaccine should improve Canadians’ already high level of confidence in the country’s meat industry.
“The challenge is to see who pays for it. Should meat packers and retailers pay for vaccination of feeder cattle? They are the ones who stand to benefit the most financially,” said Potter.
“Maybe a city utility like Lethbridge should pay to protect water supplies.”
Farmers don’t benefit directly because E. coli doesn’t make cattle sick, which Potter said means it may be a harder sell to make them pay for the vaccine.
“It’s going to be an interesting debate, not unlike the debate over whether Health Canada or CFIA should license the product,” Potter said.
Shea said she expects farmers will ultimately pay the bill.
“The retail sector will likely be driving it as a demand they push onto packers. And packers will pass it on to the farmers.”
Shea said the dairy industry might be forced to buy the vaccine to protect against charges of unsafe practices.
Marketing the product will need to be as unique as the vaccine, Potter said.
“It may need to be mixed with a bovine respiratory vaccine to make it less costly to apply. That will be one of Bioniche’s challenges.”
American authorities have decided that USDA would be the licensing agency for the vaccine in the U.S.
Bioniche performed what it hopes will be a final trial last summer and is now submitting data to the USDA for a provisional approval later this year.
