E. coli 0157-H7 vaccine

[timouse]

from the beyond factory farming mailing list at

http://www.beyondfactoryfarming.org

oh goody, won't these be interesting resistant bacteria?

*Ontario-developed E. coli cattle vaccine obtains U.S. license; The

Belleville company now has a conditional U.S. license to bring the

product to market there*

Ontario Farmer

Tue 12 Feb 2008

Page: A23

Section: News

Byline: BY PATRICK GALLAGHER, ONTARIO FARMER

A Belleville biopharmaceutical company, which has produced the world's

first cattle vaccine to ward off the deadly E. coli 0157:H7 bacteria,

has been granted a conditional license to sell the product in the U.S.

market.

Bioniche Life Sciences Inc. and collaborators with the company have

spent eight years moving the vaccine from the concept stage to

commercial availability. Extensive tests on the vaccine have been done

in feedlot cattle at the University of Nebraska.

The U.S. Agriculture Department said in a recent ruling the vaccine

"meets the expectation of efficacy" performance standard or produces the

intended result expected from the product when it is in actual use.

The conditional license designation means the company will be provided

full access to the U.S. market as long as a number of conditions are met.

It must collect sufficient data on the vaccine to move it to a point of

full license. The company must also ensure that at least one step in the

vaccine's manufacturing process be done in the United States.

A third requirement will prevent Bioniche from putting a brand name on

the vaccine as it is not a fully licensed product.

In order to meet the U.S. manufacturing requirement the company expects

to produce the vaccine material at its Belleville plant and then load it

into product vials at a plant in Athens, Georgia, said Jennifer Shea, a

spokesperson for Bioniche.

She said supplies of the vaccine will be limited in the first two years

because a production plant is in the process of being built at

Belleville. Once that plant is built and production lines are in

operation the company expects to produce 40 million doses of the vaccine

a year.

Getting conditional approval in the U.S. was very important for the

company as the cattle population is much larger in that country and,

thus, the potential market for the vaccine is much larger.

Shea said the vaccine must be given to an animal in three doses and the

total vaccine costs will run in the $10 per head range.

"We figure it will cost two cents per pound for finished meat."

In Canada the vaccine is undergoing a separate review by the Canadian

Food Inspection Agency and it has been approved for conditional use as

long as cattle producers request and buy the vaccine through their

veterinarians.

Shea said there are a number of early adaptors of the vaccine in Canada

but the number of doses actually being sold is still very low.

Bioniche's facility in Belleville is undergoing a $25 million expansion

to make way for the manufacture of the vaccine. The federal government

has kicked in $5 million to help make the manufacturing plant a reality

while the Ontario government has added a further $10 million.

Shea said the company still has a lot of work to do in terms of meeting

all the requirements needed to bring the vaccine to the final, full

license stage.

"We will have to demonstrate what we will need to meet final

requirements for registration. We are still working through those

details now."

With regulators on both sides of the border now reviewing the vaccine

the most optimistic outcome is to have the two agree on a harmonized

approach to what data is needed to meet full registration requirements,

said Shea.

The company is hopeful the vaccine will be widely accepted as the first

fully licensed on farm preventative tool to ward off the E.coli 0157:H7

bacteria. The bacteria are responsible for a lot of food recalls and

contamination is an ongoing concern in beef, fresh produce and prepared

foods.

When news of the USDA's conditional approval broke last week it prompted

a nearly 60 per cent jump in the company's stock, which trades on the

Toronto Stock Exchange.

Like a lot of other companies in the biotech space Bioniche's share

price had fallen to penny stock status.

[phishtaper]

im not sure what your point is, timouse.

[Tricky]

im not sure what your point is, timouse.

if you're serious, do a little research on the immune system---I always find it pretty scary when companies start making these drugs---how about spending time and research on educating people on healthy living.

[dancingbear]

im not sure what your point is' date=' timouse. [/quote']

if you're serious, do a little research on the immune system---I always find it pretty scary when companies start making these drugs---how about spending time and research on educating people on healthy living.

if you are serious, you should do a little research on the immune system. if your child had permanent kidney damage/or died from from E.Coli 0157, and that could have been prevented by giving a cow a vaccine would you? i do not know what you mean by healthy living. however that strain of E.Coli can be found in

* ground beef

* raw fruits and vegetables, including sprouts

* untreated water

* unpasteurized (raw) milk and (raw) milk products, including raw milk cheese

* unpasteurized apple juice/cider

* petting zoos

As for bacterial resistance I do not know. I do know immunization of children against certain bacteria has not only decreased rates of infection but has DECREASED resistant strains as well. ie. Prevnar.

anyhow, sorry for the rant, i just agree education is important.

Edited February 13, 2008 by Guest

[SaggyBalls]

If meat is treated for e.coli it can hold more feces before it becomes 'unsafe'.

[geomouse]

I know I'm wading into deep and brackish waters here but I thought E-coli was a naturally accuring bacteria in the stomach of cattle but only becomes a problem when people eat bullshit

But seriously, am I right on this? I've read that most of the contamination problems arise in the abbatoir when the gut and the meat cross connect during mishandling.

I do see the risk of creating more super resistant strains of e-coli down through generations.

g

[phishtaper]

There are many different strains of the E.coli bacterium. It is naturally found in the intestines of all mammals (including us) and is generally necessary for proper digestion. E.coli O157:H7 is a particular strain that while unproblematic in cattle can cause digestive problems and serious kidney infection in humans, and sometimes death as a result. The most common mode of transmission is via cattle feces that infects meats during processing or dairy during milking.

My understanding of the vaccine is that it reduces the occurance of only this particular strain. It kills that bad E.coli, not the good E.coli.

Other modes of transmission are also possible, but they all essentially rely on feces contamination of food or water. E.coli O157:H7 was identified as the contaminant in the infamous Walkerton water supply which resulted in several deaths and thousands of infections. Cattle feces entered the water supply after storm overflows contaminated the muncipal supply, complicated by improper treatment of the water by local officials. New treatment guidelines emerged as a result of the tragedy.

I have colleagues in veterinary epidemiology and my understanding is that this new vaccine is seen as a very good thing for food safety.

[timouse]

sorry for the confusion. i should have been clearer about whay this is upsetting. the reason that this seems like a bad idea has to do with the bigger story behind 0157-H7.

In pastured cattle, 0157-H7 is not an issue. This particularly nasty strain of E. coli does thrive in feedlot conditions. Feedlot cattle are fed grains and corn, which is not the right food at all for their systems. most beef cattle suffer from acidosis to a degree as they have perpetual heartburn from feedlot feed. Cows on pasture do not have this problem, and do not have much of a population of 0157-H7 in their guts.

So you have a typical feedlot with lots of cows in close quarters, all wading around in one another's poop. Add to that a strain of E.coli that thrives in acidic environments and produces a toxin that can ruin your kidneys and liver.

contrast that with pastured cattle who have none of these problems.

the real solution is to do away with feedlots. the efficient solution is to throw in an 0157-H7 vaccine. this will buy the feedlot system a little more time and produce a few more billion pounds of feedlot beef before the population of resistant 0157-H7 appear...

this is an issue that's really close to my heart. agribusiness has made many colossal blunders in the past by applying industrial mass production logic to food production, with devastating results. this looks like another one of those.

rather than examining the root of the 0157-H7 problem (feeding engineered feed, primarily cheap field corn, to large numbers of confined animals) the solution is another vaccine.

to paraphrase einstein, the thinking that got us in to this mess will not get us out of this mess.

[Big Wooly Mammoth]

the real solution is to do away with feedlots.

rather than examining the root of the 0157-H7 problem (feeding engineered feed, primarily cheap field corn, to large numbers of confined animals) the solution is another vaccine.

But it's so much easier to ignore the root causes of what ails us. Irradiated meat is a similar "solution." Why can't TBTB see that the solution lies upstream - get rid of factory/industrial farming and so many problems are solved.

(I think there's an analogy here with the ozone layer. what's the solution to a thinning ozone layer? sunscreen. let's not examine WHY the ozone layer is thinning.)

[Tricky]

im not sure what your point is' date=' timouse. [/quote']

if you're serious, do a little research on the immune system---I always find it pretty scary when companies start making these drugs---how about spending time and research on educating people on healthy living.

if you are serious, you should do a little research on the immune system. if your child had permanent kidney damage/or died from from E.Coli 0157, and that could have been prevented by giving a cow a vaccine would you? i do not know what you mean by healthy living. however that strain of E.Coli can be found in

* ground beef

* raw fruits and vegetables, including sprouts

* untreated water

* unpasteurized (raw) milk and (raw) milk products, including raw milk cheese

* unpasteurized apple juice/cider

* petting zoos

As for bacterial resistance I do not know. I do know immunization of children against certain bacteria has not only decreased rates of infection but has DECREASED resistant strains as well. ie. Prevnar.

anyhow, sorry for the rant, i just agree education is important.

I meant carefully choosing your food, drinking water...unfair question to ask "if your child had permanent kidney damage/or died from from E.Coli 0157, and that could have been prevented by giving a cow a vaccine would you?"---I'd never feed my child cow anyways.

we have the choice and opportunity to be involved with how our food is prepared, where we buy it, where it's raised...unless you shop at Zehrs and pay little to no attention to what goes into your body. Living healthy is a conscious attempt to educate ourselves on a healthy lifestyle--and if there's a chance that humans may contract a disease from eating a part of a cow wouldn't it make more sense to just stop eating cow's rather than develop a vaccine?

BTW, it also seems that a vaccine is an easy way to stop people from being educated---I mean, when a vaccine is developed people turn a blind eye to the issue and focus on the outcome which is just another cover-up. I do agree though, education is the key but a more important point is where and what is proper education which will raise an individuals awareness to make better decisions for themselves and there immediate environment?

Edited February 14, 2008 by Guest

[phishtaper]

--and if there's a chance that humans may contract a disease from eating a part of a cow wouldn't it make more sense to just stop eating cow's rather than develop a vaccine?

no

[timouse]

--and if there's a chance that humans may contract a disease from eating a part of a cow wouldn't it make more sense to just stop eating cow's rather than develop a vaccine?

no

ding! ding!

the solution is to vote with your dollars and not buy industrial meat.

[Tricky]

most people don't wish to educate themselves to the point where they understand what you're even talking about tim. it does seem strange to me that in first world nations where cows and cows milk is consumed (industrially)there is a higher rate of osteoporosis, bone collapse, heart disease, various cancers related to the digestive systems etc. such extreme high portions of protein lead to an increase of ammonia stored in muscle tissue as well as the body producing uric acid...which can only be neutralized by calcium, from your bones.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoy a good steak once in a while but at the rate that first world nations consume this species it only leads to nutritional debt and disease. Obtaining your meat from local organic farmers ensures that you are receiving high quality product with no chance of contamination--especially when you're a part of the procedure itself.

Edited February 14, 2008 by Guest

[SaggyBalls]

The key there is Industrially.

Curious how this thread turned into a food safety/indistrialization of food production thread, as nowadays our milk has to be pasteurized and tends to be homogenized and then fortified to have any value (and is still horrible for us)

Organic farmers that are uncertified are just that. Many smaller farmers don't claim to be organic but do not use feedlots and there is quite a bit of organic meat that is fed by feedlot grain.

Organic is nice in theory. Eating local and properly butchered meat is an even easier way to go and is still a great option for meat eaters.