DUTCH SCIENTISTS say they have made a “worldwide breakthrough” in combating antibiotic-resistant E.coli, including the bacterium EHEC, which has killed 29 people in Germany and left some 3,000 others across Europe and the US seriously ill.
The breakthrough was announced by the director of food and nutrition at the highly regarded TNO Research Institute in Delft, Dr Jan Pieter van der Lugt, who described it as “an international first in the war against life-threatening bacteria”.
Although Dr van der Lugt said the detailed breakdown of the cure was being kept secret “to protect our commercial interests”, one of the most significant aspects of its development was that it comprised only natural ingredients.
“It appears to be a valuable alternative to antibiotics, and can achieve the same effects as antibiotics,” he said.
“It has already been tested using the ESBL bacterium, but it is also applicable against the EHEC bacterium.” ESBL stands for “extended-spectrum beta lactamase” and is becoming known as the latest antibiotic-resistant hospital superbug.
EHEC is also known as enterohemorrhagic E.coli, the rod-shaped bacterium which in its severest form attacks the blood, kidneys and brain, usually – in 63 to 85 per cent of cases – as a result of exposure through food.
“There are countless bacteria out there capable of mutating into equally dangerous counterparts to the EHEC bacterium. For example, 94 per cent of the chicken in our supermarkets is infected with ESBL, which is also resistant to antibiotics.”
Despite the significance of the breakthrough, he acknowledged that it would not be available in time to treat the roughly 3,000 people estimated by the World Health Organisation to be suffering from EHEC in Germany, 12 other European countries, and the United States.
Another six months would be needed to conclude its development, he said, after which it would have to comply with stringent government regulations.
The EU has offered €210 million compensation to farmers suffering heavy financial losses as a result of scare stories surrounding the deadly E.coli outbreak.