Scientist's
eureka moment led to E. coli vaccine for cows
Cheryl Chan ,
Canwest News Service
Published: Monday, November 03, 2008 Source of Article: http://www.canada.com/topics/news/national/story.html?id=d79b687d-3073-42c6-b786-bbe7f8c7fedd VANCOUVER - The first-ever vaccine against a deadly E. coli strain -
approved by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency last week - was conceived by
a microbiologist at the University of B.C. Dr. Brett Finlay, a professor in the Michael Smith Laboratories, was out
for a run about a decade ago when he had a eureka
moment on how to reduce cases of infection caused by E. coli O157: H7. "It dawned on me that we should vaccinate the cows, not the people,
because cows carry the organisms and that's how they spread the
disease," said Finlay from his "It's a cow vaccine for a
human disease. That's part of the novelty and uniqueness of it." E. coli O157 live harmlessly in the intestines of
cows. In humans, however, they release a toxin that can cause diarrhea,
abdominal cramps, kidney failure and in severe cases, multiple organ failure
and death. E. coli O157 is the same strain found in the contaminated water supply in
Walkerton, Ont., in 2000 in which 2,500 residents were infected and seven
died. It is also responsible for a recent outbreak at a Finlay's research eventually led to the vaccine called Econiche,
which is produced by Ontario-based biopharmaceutical company Bioniche Life Sciences. The vaccine inhibits the growth of the bacteria in cows, reducing the
amount shed into the environment through manure, and thus reducing the risk
to humans. People can contract the bacteria from contaminated food and water,
eating improperly cooked meat and through direct animal contact, such as in
petting zoos and fairs. "It prevents them from colonizing," said Finlay. "One goes
in and one comes out, as opposed to one going in and tens and hundreds of
billions coming out." While the vaccine is already available to Canadian cattle farmers and
veterinarians, its implementation is still up for discussion, said Finlay,
because it's a cattle vaccine for a human disease. "The cows aren't getting sick so Joe Cattle Farmer would ask why should I vaccinate cows when they're fine," he said. But Finlay noted that vaccination would serve the interests of the North
American meat industry, which recalls about 40 million pounds of ground meat
annually. The vaccine costs $10 per cow and is administered in three injections. |
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