Grampian scientists to test theory of livestock workers’ e.coli immunity

Researchers at Aberdeen University are to test the old wives’ tale that farmers and meat workers are immune to the e.coli 0157 bug.

They launched an appeal yesterday for 50 farmers and slaughterhouse staff in Grampian to take part in a study that will evaluate if constant low-level exposure to the pathogen makes them resistant.

The research team is also looking for 100 urban volunteers to test their resistance, if any, to e.coli 0157 which, if contracted by the elderly and very young, can prove fatal.

The hope is the work will give scientists a better understanding of the pathogen that is carried by cattle and sheep, and how certain individuals appear to be able to resist an infection that affects about 50 people in Grampian annually and which kills more than 300 nationally as well as hospitalising a further 35,000.

The initiative is part of a wider three-year project launched last year with £1.5million of UK Government cash and which ultimately aims to reduce the risk from e.coli 0157.

It involves scientists across a whole range of research disciplines including geography, economics, immunology and soil science in Aberdeen and the universities of Bangor and Manchester as well as the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

The work – being led by Professor Ken Kilham in Aberdeen – is comparing the impact of e.coli in Grampian, which has the highest recorded infection rates in the UK, and in north Wales, where cases are among the lowest.

Farmers, slaughterhouse staff and members of the public are already being tested for immunity levels in Wales.

Aberdeen University research fellow Colette Jones said the work would attempt to find out why farmers and abattoir employees appear unaffected by e.coli 0157.

"It is surprising that we do not see employees from these sectors routinely struck down by the bug,” she said. “This could suggest that the more often you are exposed to the bug, the greater your immunity or your ability to deal with infection. Infection rates in Grampian are 10 times those in North Wales. We want to find out why this is.

“Is it something to do with how the organism behaves? Does it behave differently in Grampian? Is it something to do with the climate or the geography? Or could it be to do with the people themselves?”

The researchers also want to hear from people who have been infected with e.coli 0157. Anyone interested in taking part should contact the university on 01224 272370 or c.d.jones@abdn.ac.uk.