Professor emeritus Carlton Gyles, Department of Pathobiology, is one of several Canadian scientists cited in an article published this week in the Canadian Journal of Microbiology for contributions to the study of verotoxigenic E. coli (VTEC).

The article by University of British Columbia microbiologist Nevio Cimolai documents the history of this area of study and says Canadian discoveries have been pivotal to the science of toxins and illness associated with E.coli. Often referred to as “hamburger disease,” E. coli was responsible for serious illness and deaths in the Walkerton, Ont., outbreak related to water contamination and in meat-tainting episodes in Alberta.

The journal article mentions Gyles by name but also generally credits investigators at the Ontario Veterinary College during the 1970s and 1980s for research contributing to the science of VTEC among animals. Cimolai’s article says the interactions between clinical and veterinary researchers led to a then unprecedented growth in the knowledge base of VTEC.