USDA Awards $25 Million Grant to University of Nebraska-Lincoln for E. Coli Research
Wednesday, January 25, 2012(American Meat Institute)
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has awarded $25 million to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) to help reduce the occurrence and public health risks from Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) along the entire beef production pathway. The research will look at eight types of STEC including E. coli O157:H7, and will focus on five main objectives including:
- Detection: develop and implement rapid detection technologies for pre-harvest, post-harvest and consumer environments.
- Biology: characterize the biological and epidemiological factors that drive outbreaks of STEC in pre-harvest, post-harvest, retail and consumer settings.
- Interventions: develop effective and economical interventions to lessen STEC risk from cattle, hides, carcasses, and ground and non-intact beef and compare the feasibility of implementing these interventions for large, small and very small beef producers.
- Risk analysis and assessment: develop a risk assessment model for STEC from live cattle to consumption to evaluate mitigation strategies and their expected public health impacts.
- Risk management and communication: translate research findings into user-friendly food-safety deliverables for stakeholders, food safety professionals, regulators, educators and consumers.
Dr. James Keen at UNL will coordinate the research and work closely with a multi-institutional and multi-disciplinary team of researchers, educators and extension specialists including researchers from the University of Arkansas, University of California-Davis, University of California-Tulare, University of Delaware, Kansas State University, New Mexico State University, North Carolina State University, Texas A&M, Virginia Tech, USDA’s Agricultural Research Service and a research consortium comprised of government, academic and industry scientists and food safety professionals.
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