International and local experts presented new research to 120 delegates at the safefood VTEC Network Annual Conference held in Blanchardstown, Dublin, recently.
“We focused on the role of the production environment and water in the transmission of VTEC,” says Dr Geraldine Duffy, facilitator of the safefood VTEC Knowledge Network. Keynote speakers included Dr Eelco Franz (National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), The Netherlands), Dr Fiona Brennan (James Hutton Institute, Scotland) and Dr Paul Hynds (FoodNet Canada, Centre for Foodborne, Environmental and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, Canada).
Verocytotoxigenic E. coli (VTEC) are bacteria that carry verotoxin genes as well as other virulence-related genes. They can cause serious illness, including kidney failure.
Attendees heard some E. coli can persist for many years in soil. “We don’t know if that type of E. coli would cause human illness,” says Geraldine, who adds this interesting question needs more research.
VTEC in water was the hot topic of the afternoon session. “We have a very high rate of VTEC infection on the island of Ireland and the reasons behind that aren’t fully clear,” says Geraldine, who is the Head of Food Safety in the Teagasc Food Research Programme.
Private well supplies were linked to some outbreaks in recent years; many were contaminated by animal faeces carrying the toxigenic E. coli.
The Regulations on Household Food Waste and Bio-waste, which came into effect in 2013 and mandate waste separation, are likely to result in increased production of biodegradable municipal waste and this was identified as a future trend in agri-food. Discussions concentrated on the potential of pathogen survival in both composted and anaerobically digested waste.
Geraldine explains: “If the composting or digestion procedures are properly carried out, the pathogens shouldn’t survive, but there’s always a risk of recontamination after they’ve been treated, while they’re in storage and before they might be applied back to crops”.
The delegates also discussed current issues such as the application of PCR-based ISO 13136. “There are ongoing issues in the application of PCR as a detection tool” says Geraldine.
A frequent problem occurs when there is a positive PCR result, but bacteria cannot be cultured, she says. It is then unclear whether the genes identified by PCR were all present in the same bacteria, meaning it may or may not be pathogenic.
Delegates left with a good overview of emerging opportunities, future trends and research solutions to address in the coming year.
VTEC Network members can see presentations from the conference on safefood.ning.com.
(L-R:Evonne McCabe, Teagasc; Fiona Brennan, James Hutton Institute; Geraldine Duffy, Teagasc; Anne Carroll - Public Health Laboratory)
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