Welcomed research on production practices that possibly could reduce the E. coli O157:H7 pathogen load in cattle raised on small-scale cow/calf operations is being funded at Southern University by a $1 million grant from the federal government.
Dr. Divya Jaroni, a food microbiologist at Southern University Ag Center, will head the study in collaboration with scientists at Louisiana State University and Texas Tech University.
The team will study the prevalence of E. coli under different herd, farm and environment conditions across several farms. Guidelines for on-farm Best Management Practices will be developed and the effectiveness of these practices in reducing E. coli O157:H7 on small-scale cow/calf operations will be validated.
The grant money comes from the USDA through its National Institute of Food and Agriculture – Agricultural and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) program.
E. coli O157:H7 in ground beef and other beef products is a major food safety concern and one approach to reduce the threat of contamination in the slaughter process is to develop farming and ranching practices that reduce the load of the pathogen inside the animals before they are butchered.
These bacteria grow harmlessly inside the hind guts of cows and are expelled in feces. When the organisms contaminate cuts of meat at the packing plant, they become a danger to humans because they emit a powerful toxin once inside a person’s intestines. These Shiga toxins attack red blood cells in a process that often leads to clotting and kidney failure. Once in the bloodstream they can cause heart damage, central nervous system disorders, coma, paralysis and brain injury.
In 5 to 15 percent of cases, E. coli infections develop into life-threatening hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) or a related condition known as thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP.) Children under 5 years old are most susceptible to getting HUS.
