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"Backgrounder to the News"
May 27, 2000
George Stock
The recent news of deaths and hospitalizations as a result of an E. coli outbreak in Walkerton motivated me to learn more. The community in question is nearby and the agent of transmission is water, something essential to life that too often we take for granted.
My first inclination was to do a general search using Alta Vista on "E. coli" and limit it to Canada and English only. The result was in excess of 8,000 hits. Many were very specialized scientific or medical references that baffled me or had limited relevance. Many others lack evidence of objectivity and credibility.
The next step was to consult the Canada Site (http://www.canada.gc.ca) and again search for English references to "E. coli." The Canada Site is a fantastic collection of some 1,100 web pages relating to Government of Canada programs and services. The search engine is Alta Vista but the search is limited to the Canada Site.
The search resulted in over 600 references with many perspectives and a phenomenal amount of information.
General information about "Eschericha coli 015:H7," the cause of the E. coli infection, if found under the Health Protection Branch of Health Canada at http://cythera.ic.gc.ca/spansweb/ndis/diseases/ecol_e.html or in an online version of a publication called "Contaminant Profiles" at http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/ehp/ehd/catalogue/bch_pubs/98ehd211/con_profiles.pdf (pp. 61-62).
While the illness in Walkerton is believed to be water-borne, E. coli is more often transmitted from livestock to humans by direct contact or through food. Proper hygiene and food preparation techniques are the primary prevention methods.
One article of particular interest in Oxford County is a 1998 Canada Communicable Diseases study. The report is based on a study of 80 Ontario dairy farm families who may have greater exposure to E. coli through direct contact with livestock and consumption of unpasteurized milk. Check it out at http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/hpb/lcdc/publicat/ccdr/98vol24/dr2403ea.html.
The Canada Site provides a host of other related information such as online production bulletins for livestock and poultry, reports of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and the food safety enhancement program for processing establishments and egg grading stations.
Perhaps the most striking information discovered in my search was a quote in an online publication "Water," (http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/ehp/ehd/catalogue/general/97ehd215/water.pdf (p. 85) indicating that water borne illnesses worldwide are responsible for more deaths annually than cancer and AIDS combined, equivalent to 100 jumbo jets crashing annually.
Tip: Assistance in searching he Canada Site is available from training staff at Service Canada Access Centres throughout Oxford County: Community Employment Services in Woodstock, The Livingston Centre in Tillsonburg, Ingersoll Learning and Employment Resource Centre or any branch of the Oxford County Library.
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