[/caption]E coli is headlined as a serious concern whenever there is an outbreak in the world, as happened in Germany recently. But new research reveals how medical science is making advances on this terrible instrument of disease and death.
Professor Debora Foster of the Department of Chemistry and Biology at Ryerson University and her collaborators at the University of Southern California are looking at prevention by developing a spray that could be used for fruits and vegetables that potentially contain E coli, the kind of bacterium that infects the human intestine, leading to devastating illness. That illness can be life threatening.
“We're investigating an antimicrobial peptide that interferes with the DNA repair mechanisms that enable the E. coli bacterium to survive exposure to human gastric acid,” Foster explained recently on the Ryerson University website.. “One of our natural defence mechanisms is the killing action of stomach acid. Our strategy is to develop a preventative antimicrobial agent that enhances the killing action.
We are very excited by our initial findings. We will continue testing to develop a deeper understanding of the peptide’s effectiveness” she said.
Ryerson is one of Canada’s flagship research universities, that refers to itself as one “clearly on the move.”
The Food Poison Journal points to a number of threats from E coli either in the United States or abroad. In May it was reported that a fourth death had been linked to e-coli-0111 in Japan. Although E-coli 0157 is labeled the worst of the pathogenic strains, E.coli 011 has been found to also increase serious illness that can lead to death.
While the USDA stresses it has made progress in undercutting the threat of E coli in the United States, it remains a concern because of the possibility of food being used as a weapon by terrorist groups who could poison the food supply. Yet the ongoing worries about natural biological threats concerns this federal agency in its progress toward protecting the food supply.
Just how much risk is there from these biological threats like E coli? Elizabeth Hagen, undersecretary of food safety for the US agriculture Department says this: “One in six Americans will get sick this year from the food they eat. That is not acceptable. Science and data and the pathogens themselves evolve, and we must do the same if we’re going to keep pace with emerging threats.”
E coli is a threat even in places considered safe and healthy. For example, Portland, Oregon's water has been highly touted as good drinking water, yet in 2009 it was reported how the Water Bureau issued an alert of E coli found in some of the water in Washington County. That trace amount reportedly caused some Portland area residents mild illness and was quickly eradicated through draining one of the catchment areas.
The USDA regulates some food production in the US. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration monitors others, including production outside the United States, while the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention tracks public-health threats that emanate from all over the world.