Warning over E.coli strain

E.coli symptoms include vomiting and diarrhoea

A new killer strain of E.coli could soon be posing a serious public health threat in the UK, according to experts.

The bacterium, Escherichia coli 026, is said to be as dangerous as the notorious 0157 version which can cause fatal food poisoning in children and the elderly.

But the 026 strain, which comes from continental Europe, can slip through the standard test used to pick out 0157 from other bacteria.

Researchers were alerted by a recent outbreak in Scotland and findings from a study looking at cattle infection.

The likelihood is that these bugs are going to enter the human food chain more often in the future Dr Mark Stevens

Dr Mark Stevens, from the Institute for Animal Health in Compton, Berkshire, said: "026 appears to be much more prevalent in the UK than we previously thought.

"The likelihood is that these bugs are going to enter the human food chain more often in the future.

"E.coli 026 is here and we should be aware of it. The indications are that we cannot limit our sights only to 0157."

Like other E.coli strains, 026 makes its home in the gut of cattle.

It can spread to humans via faecal contamination of meat at slaughterhouses, and is a particular risk in undercooked hamburgers.

Scientists are searching for a vaccine

Children playing on farms can also pick up the bug by getting their hands dirty.

A survey last year showed that about 5% of UK cattle carried E.coli 0157.

In November 1996, E.coli 0157 killed 17 elderly people in Wishaw, Scotland, and made another 500 seriously ill after they had eaten contaminated meat products from a butcher's shop in the town.

The incident, which was Britain's worst 0157 outbreak, led to a report containing 32 safety recommendations and an E.coli taskforce was set up by the Scottish Executive.

Dr Stevens, who is developing a cattle vaccine against E.coli, will present new findings at a meeting of the Society for General Microbiology in Manchester on Monday.

Infection cases

He said that earlier this year, four people from Scotland were found to have been infected by E.coli 026 bacteria.

A fifth had acquired a rarer strain called 0113.

The patients were from the Ayrshire and Arran health board area, the Forth Valley region, Lothian and Tayside.

A team led by Professor Gad Frankel, from Imperial College London, reported the new cattle study in the journal Letters of Applied Microbiology this month.

The study found the new strain in Scottish cows

The scientists detected 132 suspect E.coli 026 isolates in 745 samples of cattle faeces from a single Scottish farm.

Of these, 85% were confirmed as being the 026 strain.

Although sophisticated antibody techniques can detect 026, it cannot be identified with the simple culture test normally used to spot 0157.

Dr Stevens said scientists were looking at ways of using the new information about how the bug survives in cattle guts to combat the bacteria.