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E. coli O157 is an important cause of human illness and occasionally death. The populations
particularly vulnerable to this pathogen are the young and elderly. Since the mid 1990s, informed
regulatory oversight and industry implementation of Pathogen Reduction/HACCP plans have
greatly reduced the human burden of this pathogen. In 2010, the incidence of E. coli O157:H7
illnesses was 1.0 case per 100,000 people; this incidence achieved the U.S. government's Health
People 2010 goal and represented a 50% reduction from baseline years. However, illnesses that
result from contaminated beef still occasionally occur and there is growing interest in pre-harvest
interventions as a tool to help further control this pathogen. Vaccines are one particular intervention
that have shown promise.<P>
Objective: Determine the impact of a whole herd vaccination program on the prevalence of E. coli O157.
Findings:
We detected a beneficial association of the vaccine with reduced prevalence of E. coli O157 in feces
and on the hides of animals presented for harvest. However, these associations varied across sample
collection times. Fecal prevalence in July was reduced compared to controls but we did not detect a
difference among those samples collected in October. Of the seven production days, hide
prevalence was significantly reduced on 3 days and an inverse relationship was detected on one day.
Averaged across time, hide prevalence was reduced 50% among vaccinates relative to controls.