Prevalence and characterization of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli O157 and O26 in beef farms

Rectal content grab samples were collected from 2436 beef cattle reared on 406 beef farms in Japan between November 2007 and March 2008. STEC strains O157 and O26 were isolated from 110 (27.1%) and 7 (1.7%) farms, respectively. Farms that tested positive for STEC O157 were located in 35 out of all 4...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Veterinary microbiology 2011-05, Vol.150 (1), p.140-145
Main Authors: Sasaki, Y., Tsujiyama, Y., Kusukawa, M., Katayama, M. Murakami S., Yamada, Y.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Agriculture
Animals
beef
Beef cattle
Beef farms
Cats
Cattle - microbiology
Dogs
Escherichia coli
Escherichia coli O157
Escherichia coli O157 - genetics
Escherichia coli O157 - isolation & purification
farms
Feces - microbiology
foodborne illness
genes
humans
Japan
Meat
O157
O26
Prevalence
rearing
Risk Factors
Shiga toxin
Shiga Toxins - genetics
Shiga-Toxigenic Escherichia coli - genetics
Shiga-Toxigenic Escherichia coli - isolation & purification
STEC
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Summary:Rectal content grab samples were collected from 2436 beef cattle reared on 406 beef farms in Japan between November 2007 and March 2008. STEC strains O157 and O26 were isolated from 110 (27.1%) and 7 (1.7%) farms, respectively. Farms that tested positive for STEC O157 were located in 35 out of all 47 Japanese prefectures. This indicates that STEC O157 strains are widespread on beef farms nationwide. Of the 2436 tested beef cattle, 218 (8.9%) and 10 (0.4%) had STEC strains O157 and O26 in the rectal content, respectively. The most common Shiga toxin genes detected in the isolated STEC O157 strains were: stx 2c alone (32.1%), stx 2/ stx 2c (27.2%), and stx 1/ stx 2 (21.8%). Almost all of the STEC O157 and STEC O26 strains expressed Shiga toxins (Stx). Most of the STEC O157 and STEC O26 strains possessed eaeA and EHEC- hlyA. These results strongly suggest that STEC strains O157 and O26 from beef cattle would be pathogenic to humans. Therefore, it is important to reduce STEC strains O157 and O26 in beef cattle in order to prevent foodborne disease caused by STEC. The presence of dogs and/or cats on a farm was significantly ( P = 0.02) associated with the prevalence of STEC O157. More research is needed to clarify the role of dogs and cats.
ISSN:0378-1135
1873-2542
DOI:10.1016/j.vetmic.2010.12.024