May 23, 2008

US research finds E. coli in pigs

A research conducted at Iowa State University (ISU) found that E.coli, a pathogen associated with cattle could also be transmitted through the air among swine.
 

Sharing pens with infected pigs could infect uninfected pigs, but they can also be infected through air transmission even when infected pigs are separated from them. 

Nancy Cornick, an ISU associate professor of veterinary microbiology, said some of the aerosols could be from hosing the pen, although they scrape the pens before hosing them and one of the air samples was taken 24 hours after the pens had been cleaned.

That point to the possibility that infectious aerosols may remain suspended for at least 24 hours or the pigs may be creating aerosolised E. coli.

"What it says to me is that if the organism is in the environment with the pig, it's very easily transmitted and the infectious dose is very low," Cornick said.

Cornick performed a similar test with sheep and found that E. coli did not spread as easily as it does in pigs. Other tests also showed that E. coli can establish and maintain a population in some pigs' intestinal tracts for at least two months.

One US slaughter facility found E. coli in 2 percent of its pigs and the bacterium was also found in healthy pigs in Japan, Chile, Norway, the Netherlands and Sweden, according to Cornick.

The incidence of E. coli in swine remains small but may be worthy of attention.