The prevalence, virulence factors and antibiotic resistance ofEscherichia coli O157 in feces of adult ruminants slaughtered inthree provinces of Turkey

İngilizce (OpenAlex)

In the present study the prevalence, presence of Stx1, Stx2, EhlyA and eaeA virulence genes and antibiotic resistance of Escherichia coli O157 strains isolated from the feces of 417 adult ruminants slaughtered in three provinces of Turkey were investigated. A total of 16 (3.8%) E. coli O157 strains were isolated from 417 fecal samples. Among these strains 9 (3.3%), 4 (7.8%), 2 (2.4%) and 1 (7.1%) were obtained from 269 cattle, 51 water buffaloes, 83 sheep and 14 goats, respectively. All strains were screened for the presence of rfbO157, fliCH7, Stx1, Stx2, eaeA and EhlyA genes by PCR. The rfbO157 gene was determined in all strains, while 7 (43.8%) of 16 strains harbored fliCH7, Stx2, EhlyA and eaeA genes. eaeA gene was obtained from 11 (68.8%) strains, 4 (25.0%) of these were alone. The Stx1 gene was not determined in any of the 16 strains and 5 (31.2%) strains were also negative for fliCH7, Stx2, EhlyA and eaeA genes. High resistance rates were determined against ampicillin (68.7%), neomycin (68.7%), tetracycline (68.7%), trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole (62.5%) and amoxicillin/clavulanic acid (56.2%) in 16 E. coli 157 strains isolated in this study. The present study investigated the presence of E. coli O157 serotype, its major virulence genes and antibiotic resistance in the strains isolated from the feces of different slaughtered ruminants, including cattle, water buffalo, sheep and goats for the first time in Turkey, and showed the water buffaloes, sheep and goats, like cattle, may be a potential reservoir of E. coli O157:H7 infections for humans.