MSU prof develops diarhhea vaccine

EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) - Michigan State University says a researcher has developed a vaccine for a strain of E. coli bacteria that kills 2 million to 3 million children a year.

A. Mahdi Saeed is a professor of epidemiology and infectious disease and has applied for a patent for the discovery.

The university says negotiations are underway with several pharmaceutical companies.

Enterotoxigenic E. coli is responsible for 60 to 70 percent of E. coli diarrheal disease. It is the cause of what is commonly called traveler's diarrhea.

The strain affects millions of people worldwide, mainly in South America and sub-Saharan Africa.

Saeed says mouse and rabbit studies have succeeded, and he hopes human clinical trials can begin in late 2009.