Just got this today • E. coli O157 does not make cattle sick but a 2009 study found E. coli O157 on 52% of the farms surveyed in Ontario,
confirming that cows are still widely regarded as the primary source of this bacterium that is harmful to humans.
• Approximately 100,000 cases of human infection with the E. coli O157 organism are reported each year in North
America.
• The Canadian gover nment’s approach to fighting E. coli O157 focuses primarily on the meat processing stage
but this policy approach to dealing with the problem does not address the source of the pathogen on the farm.
• Canada is the only country in the world with a fully license d vaccine to reduce shedding of E. coli O157 by cattle.
Canadian Food Safety Alliance
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The Canadian Food Safety Alliance is committed to protecting public
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risks associated with E. coli O157 contamination.
Canadian Food Safety Alliance
Preventing E. coli at the Source
FAST FACTS
Standing Committee on Agriculture Report
Comments on Growing Forward II: Committee
Recognizes Important Role for E. coli Vaccine
The Federal Government’s Standing Committee
on Agriculture and Agri-Food recently reported
on their lengthy consultations on Growing
Forward II – Canada’s new agricultural policy
framework. Growing Forward 2 represents an
evolution of previous federal/provincial
frameworks and aims to help the agricultural
sector position itself for future opportunities and
challenges by creating the conditions for
long-term competitiveness, sustainability and
adaptability, with an emphasis on industry
capacity and self-reliance.
The report highlighted a number of initiatives
underway to develop a national food strategy.
The common themes of a number of strategies
being developed include the ability of Canadian
agriculture to compete internationally, the link
between food and health, and the concept of
sustainability. The link between food and health
is a primary focus for consumers and the
Standing Committee’s report included several
recommendations focusing on the relationship
between food and public health.
The Committee’s report placed a particular
emphasis on food safety and the need to develop
and adopt innovative approaches to improving food
safety in Canada. Specifically, the report recognized
the important role that a preventative livestock
vaccine could play in improving food safety.
“Innovation in food safety is another way of
meeting consumers’ health expectations.
Bioniche Life Sciences Inc. has developed a
cattle vaccine that reduces the excretion of
E. coli O157 and should prevent disease in
humans. A national vaccination campaign
would help boost Canadians’ confidence in
food safety and considerably reduce the
annual cost of primary and secondary health
care related to these bacteria.”
Standing Committee on Agriculture - 2012
Cattle are the primary source of E. coli O157,
which can infect people either directly, through
the consumption of contaminated food and
touching infected animals or indirectly, when
manure is exposed in the environment and
contaminates farm produce or drinking water.
While there are several measures that meat
processors undertake to prevent E. coli O157 from
coming into contact with meat, Canada currently
does not impose on-farm measures to prevent E.
coli O157 contamination. In North America, over
100,000 people per year are made ill from E. coli
O157 contamination. A recent study estimated the
long-term health care costs associated with E.
coli O157 at over $200 million per year. E. coli
O157 is the same pathogen that led to the deaths
of seven people in Walkerton, Ontario in 2000.
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