Their focus: the E. coli 0157:H7 bacteria, which can kill if it reaches the dinner table.
"Our purpose is to save little kids' lives," said Mohammad Koohmaraie, director of the center.
The scientists at the Roman L. Hruska U.S. Meat Animal Research Center say they still don't know why the number of beef recalls soared in 2007 or why E. coli contamination appeared to be rising.
"What we try to do is increase our understanding as much as possible about the bug," Koohmaraie said.
The lab has its own feedlot and a herd of about 6,500 cows that are used for genetic research.
In 2007, more than 30 million pounds of ground beef were pulled off the market in 20 recalls because of possible E. coli contamination. That included the second-largest recall in U.S. history, which put Topps Meat Co. out of business.
At least 67 sicknesses were linked to last year's beef recalls. No deaths were reported. In 2006, there were just eight beef recalls and no reported illnesses.
The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that E. coli sickens about 73,000 people and kills 61 each year in the United States. Most of the deaths are people with weak immune systems such as the elderly or very young.
The bacteria was discovered in the late 1970s and is present in the intestines of most cattle. It also can be found in deer, goats and sheep. It doesn't cause problems for the livestock, but the E. coli 0157:H7 variant can cause severe illness in humans.
Symptoms of E. coli infection include stomach cramps and diarrhea that may turn bloody within one to three days.
The large scope of the research being conducted at the Meat Animal Research Center sets its work apart from research at universities and other labs in the USDA's Agricultural Research Service.
"The uniqueness of what we do is in the sample size," Koohmaraie said. "We really don't speak unless we have confidence in the data. A bug like E. coli 0157:h7 is really problematic if you don't design the experiment properly."
One of the lab's current projects will test whether feeding cattle distiller's grain
- a byproduct of making the gasoline additive ethanol - has any effect on the level of E. coli and the quality of meat produced.
The Nebraska Corn Board suggested the distiller's grain research last spring, and the lab agreed because more and more feedlots are using the ethanol byproduct, Koohmaraie said.
The research involves 600 cattle. Half are being fed a traditional grain feed and half are being fed distiller's grain. The research will wrap up in June after the cattle have been sold for slaughter and samples of their carcasses have been collected.
