E. coli vaccine may help quash beef contamination

An upcoming, large-scale test of an E. coli vaccine for cattle may help solve one of the nation's most persistent food-safety issues. The vaccine has been in the work for years, but bureaucratic delays in Washington have kept it from widespread use, William Neuman of The New York Times reports. The U.S. Department of Agriculture first received an application for the vaccine in 2001, but questions over which federal agency had jurisdiction to issue permits slowed the development till 2005.

Scientists are fairly certain the vaccines won't wipe out the dangerous strain of E. coli known as O157:H7 on their own, Neuman reports, but they could significantly reduce the amount of harmful bacteria that reache slaughter houses. At that point safeguards already in place would have a greater chance of eliminating the remaining germs from beef supply. Preliminary studies show vaccines could reduce the amount of animals carrying the disease by 65 to 75 percent.

Two vaccines are being developed commercially, one by Minnesota-based Epitox and another by Canadian Bioniche Life Sciences. The Canadian vaccine was approved for use in that country last year. USDA FIRST required any vaccines to show at least a 90 percent reduction in the number of cattle carrying the bacteria, but after an increased number of contamination cases, USDA relaxed its standard in 2008. "It’s [the vaccine] definitely a piece of the solution," James L. Marsden, a professor of food safety at Kansas State University, told Neuman. "When you combine it with other pieces you may be looking at a real solution, a total solution." (Read more)