TY - JOUR
T1 - Occurrence of non-O157 Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli in two commercial swine farms in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa
AU - Iwu, Chinwe Juliana
AU - Iweriebor, Benson Chucks
AU - Obi, Larry Chikwelu
AU - Okoh, Anthony Ifeanyi
N1 - Funding Information:
We are grateful to the University of Fort Hare and the South African Medical Research Council for financial support.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2015 Elsevier Ltd.
Copyright:
Copyright 2017 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2016/2/1
Y1 - 2016/2/1
N2 - © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) is one of the most significant causes of food-borne infections capable of causing serious health complications in humans. Even though ruminants are known to be the major reservoirs of STEC, other non-ruminant food producing animals may also harbour pathogenic E. coli strains. In this study, we investigated the prevalence of E. coli serogroups O26, O111, O121, O145, and O157 and their associated virulence genes (stx1, stx2, eae, and ehxA) in swine faecal samples obtained from the two major commercial farms located in the Nkonkobe Municipality, Eastern Cape, South Africa. The proportions of serogroups detected were O26; 35 (7%), O145; 14 (2.8%), and O157:H7; 43 (8.6%) of the total animals sampled. Out of the 500 animals sampled, 22 isolates of E. coli (1.4%) tested positive for the stx2 gene, and 7 of these isolates belonged to E. coli O26 serogroup, while the remaining 15 most likely belonged to serogroups untargeted in this study. Other virulence genes (stx1, eae, and ehxA) that we screened for were not detected. These findings reveal that pigs within the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa can harbour Shiga toxin-producing E. coli.
AB - © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) is one of the most significant causes of food-borne infections capable of causing serious health complications in humans. Even though ruminants are known to be the major reservoirs of STEC, other non-ruminant food producing animals may also harbour pathogenic E. coli strains. In this study, we investigated the prevalence of E. coli serogroups O26, O111, O121, O145, and O157 and their associated virulence genes (stx1, stx2, eae, and ehxA) in swine faecal samples obtained from the two major commercial farms located in the Nkonkobe Municipality, Eastern Cape, South Africa. The proportions of serogroups detected were O26; 35 (7%), O145; 14 (2.8%), and O157:H7; 43 (8.6%) of the total animals sampled. Out of the 500 animals sampled, 22 isolates of E. coli (1.4%) tested positive for the stx2 gene, and 7 of these isolates belonged to E. coli O26 serogroup, while the remaining 15 most likely belonged to serogroups untargeted in this study. Other virulence genes (stx1, eae, and ehxA) that we screened for were not detected. These findings reveal that pigs within the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa can harbour Shiga toxin-producing E. coli.
KW - E. coli
KW - Food borne pathogens
KW - STEC
KW - Swine
KW - Zoonoses, South Africa
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84958078585&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.cimid.2015.12.004
DO - 10.1016/j.cimid.2015.12.004
M3 - Article
C2 - 26851595
SN - 0147-9571
VL - 44
SP - 48
EP - 53
JO - Comparative Immunology, Microbiology and Infectious Diseases
JF - Comparative Immunology, Microbiology and Infectious Diseases
ER -
