A new strain of the potentially deadly bug, E.coli, has been found in Ireland, where there have been two reported cases in the past 15 months. E.coli 026 is believed to be as dangerous as the notorious E.coli O157 strain.
A conference on E.coli in Europe, organised in Dublin by Teagasc, was told yesterday that four new strains of the pathogen had been identified internationally - one child has already died here because of the original bacterial strain, E.coli O157.
Dr Geraldine Duffy, of Teagasc's National Food Centre (NFC), said E.coli has emerged as a serious public health hazard. E.coli O157 is primarily located in the intestines of cattle and sheep.
The pathogen, which has caused hundreds of deaths worldwide, can be spread through water, food, person to person, animal to person or during animal slaughtering.
Dr Duffy said that about 10 per cent of people infected with the pathogen develop kidney failure or other serious complications. Research had shown that in 0.6 per cent of cases, infection results in death. Young children and the elderly are most at risk.
The conference is being held in the Grand Hotel, Malahide, and is being attended by scientists from 31 European food and medical research institutes.
Delegates were told an Irish study of the bug carried out at a major meat plant over a 12month period found that over 3 per cent of Irish beef carcasses are infected with E.coli O157. The incidence was highest in cattle in spring and early summer, said Mr John McEvoy of the NFC.
A Scottish scientist, Dr Barti Synge, said 8 per cent of animals in Scotland had been found to carry it. A study in England carried out by Dr Peter Chapman, Public Health Laboratory Service, Sheffield, found 13 per cent of cattle studied and 7.5 per cent of sheep were infected with it. Dr Derval Igoe, of the National Disease Surveillance Unit, Dublin, said the first reported outbreak of E.coli O157 in Ireland was in a children's developmental centre in 1995. Since 1996 there had been 203 reported cases. The peak year for infection was 1998, with 76 cases. The number of reported cases had dropped to 51 in 1999 and to 37 last year. Dr Igoe said analysis of the incidences of E.coli O157 in 1999 had shown 40 per cent of the cases occurred in children under four years of age and a further 14 per cent in five to nine-year-olds, confirming that children are in the highest risk category.
The highest number of cases occurred in late summer, mirroring the pattern of infection in cattle.
Dr Igoe said that two reported cases of the new strain, E.coli 026, were found in a creche in Donegal in the autumn 1999 and in the Eastern Regional Health Authority Area last summer.
Dr Jim Sheridan, head of food safety research at the NFC, said research on finding ways to treat the hides of animals to remove E.coli O157 was ongoing but no method had been identified yet.
It appeared nothing could be done at farm level to control the level of E.coli O157 in the relatively small number of Irish animals found infected with the pathogen, so control during the slaughter process was vital.
The introduction of the hazard analysis critical control point system, developed in the US for the production of food for astronauts in space, provided the best control.