Day 081 - 31 Jan 95 - Page 33
1 me why it was the other way around had it been the other
2 way around, I do not know.
3
4 Q. You do not think it relates to food eating patterns in
5 America and in the UK?
6 A. No. I suspect it is more related to someone doing a
7 piece of research and discovering a new type of E.coli.
8
9 Q. We are talking about E.coli 0157 in America, that one, but
10 are the other E.coli strains all harmless or do some of
11 them have problems?
12 A. E.coli is a natural inhabitant of the gut and will
13 often cause no symptoms whatsoever.
14
15 Q. But some of the strains are potentially harmful, are they
16 not, apart from 0157?
17 A. It is one of those organisms that appears to be able to
18 produce symptoms from time to time.
19
20 Q. But the 0157 is a strain that has been fairly recently
21 identified?
22 A. Yes.
23
24 Q. Since E.coli became a concern in the UK, there has been
25 more identification of it, is that correct to say, and also
26 more procedures put in place to try to prevent it?
27 A. 0157?
28
29 Q. Yes, 0157.
30 A. Yes, but it is obviously interesting when you get a new
31 organism or a new type and people do, therefore, take a
32 greater interest in identifying it.
33
34 Q. And put into processes to deal with it, to try to prevent
35 it?
36 A. Yes.
37
38 Q. So would it be fair to say that the E.coli 0157 that
39 existed in America in the 80s, the existence of the E.coli
40 0157 would have been the same as in the UK, it would have
41 existed in the 80s in the UK even if it had not become an
42 issue?
43 A. I have no idea. It is pure speculation.
44
45 MR. JUSTICE BELL: So, scientifically, it would be possible for
46 0157 to have appeared in North America but no member of the
47 British population actually to have it in their body, would
48 it? That would be scientifically possible; whether it is a
49 realistic possibility or not, scientifically that would be
50 possible?
51 A. Yes, these things often arise through mutation and they
52 arise at one particular centre and spread from there. I do
53 not know in this particular case what was the origin.
54
55 MR. MORRIS: Going back to your chart that we looked at today
56 for the first time, do you have a copy of it? This was the
57 Public Health Microbiological Digest, page 99?
58 A. Yes, I have that.
59
60 Q. Is says that salmonella is not satisfactory in any amounts,
