Technologies

Description

Researchers affiliated with the National Microbiology Laboratory (NML) in Winnipeg, Manitoba have developed a rapid, easy to perform, reliable, relatively inexpensive kit that can detect not onlyE. coli 0157:H7but, of potentially greater significance, all of the known specific illness-causing E. coli virulence factors, even when they are not part ofE. coli 0157:H7but occur in other serotypes of E. coli (the so called non-O157:H7isolates).
No other technology detectsE. coli 0157:H7and identifies so many E. coli virulence factors simultaneously.

The investment opportunity

The National Microbiology LaboratoryE. coli 0157:H7detection and virulence factor identification kit addresses the urgent need for a simpleE. coli 0157:H7test that can be used in clinical laboratories as well as in food and water inspection settings.
The NML kit’s ease of use, detection sensitivity, and reliability makes widespread use of it at many levels of medical practice, medical research, veterinary practice, food production, food processing, and food and water inspection possible and practical. It has civilian and military applications and, potentially, a worldwide market.

The Challenge

Escherichia coli(E. coli) 0157:H7is a bacterial pathogen that causes serious gastrointestinal illness, often referred to as “Hamburger disease”.
Infection withE. coli 0157:H7may cause bloody diarrhea, thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP), neurologic sequelae, acute and chronic kidney disease, hemorrhagic colitis (HC), and hemolytic-uremic syndrome (HUS), a disease for which there is no effective treatment.
E. coli 0157:H7can be transmitted in undercooked ground beef, unpasturized apple juice, unpasturized milk, salami, alfalfa sprouts, lettuce, and untreated drinking water and recreational water.
The Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta estimates 73,000 illnesses and 60 deaths a year in the United States are caused beE. coli 0157:H7infection.

Identifying the specific illness-causing virulence factors present in E. coli strains such asE. coli 0157:H7is important for disease epidemiology determination. The source of an outbreak must be found to facilitate product recall. But, detection ofE. coli 0157:H7and identification of specific illness-causing virulence factors in E. coli strains can be difficult because most detection methods are time-consuming and expensive, and are not able to identify virulence factor subtypes.