Escherichia coli O157:H7 causes more-severe systemic disease in suckling piglets than in colostrum-deprived neonatal piglets.
Our objective was to determine if suckling neonatal piglets are susceptible to enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) O157:H7 disease. Surprisingly, EHEC O157:H7 caused more-rapid and more-severe neurological disease in suckling neonates than in those fed an artificial diet. Shiga toxin-negative O157:H7 did not cause neurological disease but colonized and caused attaching-and-effacing intestinal lesions.
Dean-Nystrom
E A
EA
Enteric Diseases and Food Safety Research Unit, National Animal Disease Center, Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Ames, Iowa 50010-0070, USA. enystrom@nadc.ars.usda.gov
Pohlenz
J F
JF
Moon
H W
HW
O'Brien
A D
AD
D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn / Q000382:microbiology*; D000833:Animals, Suckling; D002432:Cecum / Q000382:microbiology; D002531:Cerebellum / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology; D003106:Colon / Q000382:microbiology; D004198:Disease Susceptibility; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D007082:Ileum / Q000382:microbiology; D009336:Necrosis; D013552:Swine / Q000382:microbiology*