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This proposal describes the organization of the Third Governors Conference on Ensuring Food Safety: E. coli O157:H7 Progress and Challenges. This conference, to be held in Fall, 2008 in Lincoln, Nebraska, will address research, extension, and educational needs. Although it will be important to review recent applied and basic research progress and to describe the status of current interventions efforts, our emphasis at the conference will be to discuss what lies ahead and where future research should be directed. Accordingly, at the end of the conference we expect that the participants will be able to define the emerging issues to develop and implement plans for how those issues can be addressed.
NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY: Despite extraordinary scientific progress in our understanding of the biology of Escherichia coli O157:H7, the incidence of human disease and product recalls caused by this organism have again increased in recent years. Moreover, even with tremendous strides made in the beef industry to reduce prevalence of the organism, isolations of E. coli O157:H7 from ground beef and from trim intended for ground beef manufacture, once again increased. The organism also appears to be evolving from a primary mode of transmission through contaminated ground beef of beef products to an environmental pathogen, causing outbreaks in other agricultural commodities such as spinach and other leafy green products. Successful development of strategies to control this organism requires coordinated efforts from a wide cross-section of scientists, including basic researchers and scientists who work to develop means to control it. The Governors Conference on E. coli O157:H7 provides an outstanding forum in which international experts involved in basic and applied research, as well as extension education, present seminars on E. coli O157:H7. This conference will be held for the third time in Lincoln, Nebraska over a two-day period in the Fall of 2008. Speakers for the 2008 conference will review recent research progress with an overall emphasis being placed on addressing future challenges and integrating the full spectrum of the E. coli problem, from farm to table. Invited speakers include veterinary scientists, medical researchers, geneticists, applied food scientists, and research specialists from the food industry.
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APPROACH: The conference will host two days of plenary presentations from experts on the biology and ecology of E. coli O157:H7, its modes of pathogenesis, transmission and epidemiology, and pre-harvest and post-harvest intervention strategies. A panel discussion and forum are held on the final day of the conference, allowing synthesis of ideas and concepts that were discussed by the speakers as well as discussion on contemporary issues. Two poster sessions are also held to allow for more informal discussion of research and scientific findings. Proceedings from the conference will be summarized in a Conference review article that will be submitted to Applied and Environmental Microbiology.