Extension Communications
3614 Administrative Services Building
Ames, Iowa 50011-3614
(515) 294-9915
12/14/99
Contacts:
Harley Moon, Veterinary Medicine Research Institute, (515)
294-9327, hwmoon@iastate.edu
Tracy S. Petersen, Iowa Beef Center, (515) 294-5672,
tracyp@iastate.edu
Beef Producers May Be Able To Play A Role In Reducing E. coli
AMES, Iowa -- Farmers and consumers need not panic over a recent report by the U.S. Department of Agriculture that E. coli 0157:H7 may affect up to half the nation's cattle, according to an Iowa State University professor.
Harley Moon, professor with the Veterinary Medicine Research Institute at ISU, said the report must be reviewed extensively before it can be accepted. If it is accurate, the research marks an important step in dealing with E. coli 0157:H7.
The bacteria was previously thought to affect only 1 to 3 percent of U.S. cattle. However, it is thought that E. coli 0157:H7 probably has not become more prevalent, but that the detection method may be improving dramatically.
Improved detection is just one of the many keys to unlocking the problem of E. coli, Moon said. Likewise, the problem will be solved by a variety of players, from the farmer to the consumer.
Consumers currently hold most of the cards when it comes to preventing human illness from E. coli. People can avoid the disease by thoroughly cooking meat, especially ground beef. Farmers also may be able to play a role, although Moon cautioned that steps beef producers can take have not yet been proven.
Research shows that E. coli 0157:H7 can persist in water, so it may be possible to reduce the levels of contamination by maintaining clean water troughs, Moon said.
"We can't say that if you keep your water supply clean, you'll reduce E. coli," Moon said, "but at this stage, it is something you can do. Anything that improves hygiene should help."
The same is true of feed. Moon recommended keeping feed storage areas free of birds and rodents, and regularly cleaning feed bunks and storage areas. He cautioned against using the same loader bucket to handle feed and manure.
"E. coli is transmitted fecal-to-oral, so you want to reduce the chances of manure getting into food and water," Moon said.
That's why some advocate keeping animal hides and lots as free of manure as possible.
"There's reason to assume the more manure is on the animal, the more E. coli is on the animal," Moon noted.
"Right now we don't know how to eliminate the problem," Moon said. "In the next five to 10 years, however, we'll likely have major control opportunities."
Moon noted that current research is exploring everything from using viruses to infect and destroy E. coli 0157:H7 to manipulating bacteria in the colon that will essentially crowd out E. coli 0157:H7. Moon is involved in yet another aspect of research that may lead to a vaccination. Others are studying whether the bacteria is unique to ruminants.
"Are certain swine and poultry practices keeping the agent out of those species? Moon asked. "We'd like to know, so we don't change those practices, and so we can make the appropriate changes in ruminants."
"We'll need a farm-to-table system of dealing with this," Moon noted. He added that a precedent was set decades ago when brucellosis was eliminated as a consumer problem. The key to that, Moon observed, was developing an on-farm vaccination, using pasteurization to kill the bacteria that persisted, and conducting tests to identify infected herds.
"Today there are only a handful of brucellosis-infected herds, and the problem is one for the producer, but not the consumer," Moon said. "The holistic attack was a major victory for the consuming public."
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