cattle in the U.S.
K-State researchers help Epitopix license
the first E. coli 0157 vaccine for cattle in the U.S. Source of
Article: http://www.hpj.com/archives/2009/mar09/mar23/K-StateresearchershelpEpito.cfm?title=K-State%20researchers%20help%20Epitopix%20license%20the%20first%20E.coli%200157%20vaccine%20for%20cattle%20in%20the%20U.S. Studies by veterinary
researchers at Kansas State University, with collaboration from Epitopix LLC,
have resulted in the United States' first vaccine against E. coli O157 in
beef cattle. "Researchers have done
so much to focus on the post-harvest food safety aspect, whether it's E. coli
or salmonella," said Dan Thomson of K-State's College of Veterinary
Medicine. Thomson is the Jones Professor of Production Medicine and
Epidemiology in the department of clinical sciences. "Controlling foodborne
pathogen outbreaks, and specifically E. coli O157, has been a major research
initiative of many government and private agencies for the last two
decades," he said. "We're really excited about the potential of
this vaccine to aid pre-harvest food safety in beef cattle." Thomson led both challenge
studies and field studies to help the vaccine garner approval from the U.S.
Department of Agriculture. It was developed by researchers Daryll Emery,
Darren Straub and Doug Burkhardt of Epitopix LLC in Willmar, Minn. Thomson
collaborated with T.G. Nagaraja, university distinguished professor of diagnostic
medicine and pathobiology at K-State, and Guy Loneragan of West Texas A&M
University. "We're excited that
this vaccine has been granted a conditional approval by the U.S. Department
of Agriculture," Thomson said. "We have been a research
collaborator for Epitopix to conduct the work that lead to this conditional
approval. Epitopix will now be able to offer this pre-harvest food safety
tool to beef producers." The researchers conducted a
challenge study at K-State and studies of commercial feed yards in Nebraska
and Great Bend in 2007 and 2008. "With this vaccine, we
observed decreases in cattle shedding E. coli O157," Thomson said.
"In our last field study we observed an 86 percent reduction in the
number of animals shedding E. coli. Of the vaccinated cattle that were still
shedding, we observed nearly a 98 percent reduction of E. coli O157 fecal
concentration. "Epitopix LLC has had
many successes with this technology in other industries including poultry and
dairy," Thomson said. "They have a product currently on the market
for control of Salmonella in dairy cows." E. coli, like other
foodborne pathogens, is a bacteria that is present in the gastrointestinal
tract of healthy cattle. Foodborne pathogens can contaminate meat or
vegetable products. If food isn't properly cooked, the bacteria can harm the
people who eat it. More information on proper ways to cook meat is available
at: http://www.oznet.ksu.edu/news/sty/2001/2meat1a.htm
Thomson said the vaccine
works by not allowing the E. coli bacteria to acquire iron. Instead of
targeting the whole bacterium, this vaccine targets certain proteins and
protein receptors on the surface on the bacteria. When antibodies block these
proteins and protein receptors, the bacteria can't absorb iron and are not
able to grow or reproduce. "Iron is to bacteria
what oxygen is to humans," he said. Thomson said K-State
appreciates the research partnership with Epitopix on this important
pre-harvest food safety tool and that the partnership allowed several K-State
graduate students to participate in the study. They included Trent Fox, a
December 2007 doctoral graduate in pathobiology and now a third-year
veterinary medicine student, St. John; Ashley Thornton, a December 2007
master's degree graduate in biomedical science, St. Joseph, Mo.; and Ben
Wileman, a doctoral student in pathobiology, Belle Fourche, S.D. Thomson said the next step
for the K-State researchers is to conduct post-approval studies on the vaccine
by looking at its effects on cow herds at the ranch before the calves arrive
at the feed yards. This includes studying whether cows can pass the
resistance on to their calves. |
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