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Isolation and characterization of verocytotoxin-producing Escherichia coli O157 strains from Dutch cattle and sheep - PubMed

Isolation and characterization of verocytotoxin-producing Escherichia coli O157 strains from Dutch cattle and sheep

A E Heuvelink et al. J Clin Microbiol. 1998 Apr.

Abstract

In the periods from July to November 1995 and 1996, fecal samples from Dutch cattle and sheep were collected at the main slaughterhouses of The Netherlands, located at different geographic sites. The samples were examined for the presence of verocytotoxin (VT)-producing Escherichia coli (VTEC) of serogroup 0157. E. coli O157 strains could be isolated from 57 (10.6%) of 540 adult cattle, 2 (0.5%) of 397 veal calves, 2 (3.8%) of 52 ewes, and 2 (4.1%) of 49 lambs. Immunomagnetic separation with O157-specific-antibody-coated beads appeared to be significantly more sensitive than conventional plating for detection of the organism in feces. With the exception of two isolates from adult cattle which appeared to be negative for VT genes, all animal isolates were positive for both VT (VT1 and/or VT2) and E. coli attaching-and-effacing gene sequences, and therefore, they were regarded as potential human pathogens. Although genomic typing by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis revealed a wide variety of distinct restriction patterns, comparison of the 63 animal isolates with 33 fecal O157 VTEC strains previously isolated from humans with the diarrhea-associated form of the hemolytic-uremic syndrome by their phage types and VT genotypes showed a marked similarity between animal and human isolates: 30 (90.9%) of the 33 human isolates appeared to be of E. coli O157 strain types also isolated from cattle and sheep. It was concluded that Dutch cattle and sheep are an important reservoir of E. coli O157 strains that are potentially pathogenic for humans.

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Figures

FIG. 1
FIG. 1

Geographic distributions of adult cattle found to be positive for E. coli O157 at slaughter, adult cattle sampled, and all dairy cattle within The Netherlands (23). The locations of the farms of origin for 39 of the 540 adult animals sampled, including 6 animals positive for E. coli O157, could not be traced.

FIG. 2
FIG. 2

Agarose gels showing XbaI digestion patterns (designated A to AI) of fecal E. coli O157 isolates of phage types (PT) 2, 4, and 8 from cattle (A) and from patients with D+ HUS (B). (A) Lanes 1 and 18, molecular size markers (bacteriophage lambda ladder); lanes 2 to 5 and lane 16, isolates positive for VT2 and eae genes; lanes 6 to 15, isolates positive for VT1, VT2, and eae genes; lane 17, isolate positive only for the eae gene. (B) Lanes 1 and 17, molecular size markers (bacteriophage lambda ladder); lanes 2 to 16 and lanes 18 to 27, isolates positive for VT2 and eae genes; lanes 28 to 30, isolates positive for VT1, VT2, and eae genes.

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