AMES, IOWA — The pathogen E. coli O157:H7 may be transmitted through the air among swine, according to research conducted at Iowa State University.
Nancy Cornick, an I.S.U. associate professor of veterinary microbiology who has researched the issue for the Food Safety Consortium, previously has shown that uninfected pigs sharing pens with pigs infected with O157:H7 could also become infected. In the more recent research, it appeared that transmission of the organism could be accomplished through the air even when infected pigs were separated from uninfected pigs.
"In this study, some of the aerosols could be from hosing the pen, although we scrape the pens first before we hose them," Ms. Cornick explained. "One of the air samples was taken 24 hours after the pens had been cleaned."
That suggests infectious aerosols may remain suspended for at least that long or the pigs themselves may be creating aerosolized 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," Ms. Cornick said.
She also performed a similar experiment with sheep and found E. coli wasn’t transmitted as easily as in pigs. Other experiments also have shown E. coli O157:H7 may establish and maintain a population in some pigs’ intestinal tracts for at least two months, indicating that the bacterium may colonize swine. The incidence of the pathogen in swine remains small but worthy of notice, according to the researcher.
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