Cattle can be a reservoir of sorbitol-fermenting shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli O157:H(-) strains and a source of human diseases.
Using the immunomagnetic separation procedure, we isolated sorbitol-fermenting (SF) Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) O157:H(-) strains from two patients, one with hemolytic-uremic syndrome and the other with diarrhea, and from a dairy cow epidemiologically associated with the patients. The phenotypic and genotypic characteristics of all isolates were identical or closely related. Moreover, the bovine isolate showed a clonal relatedness to SF STEC O157:H(-) strains isolated from patients in Germany and the Czech Republic from 1988 to 1998. This is the first evidence that cattle can be a reservoir of SF STEC O157:H(-) and a source of human diseases.
Bielaszewska
M
M
Institute for Medical Microbiology, The 2nd Medical Faculty, Charles University, 150 06 Prague, Czech Republic. mbielaszewska@hygiene.uni-wuerzburg.de
Schmidt
H
H
Liesegang
A
A
Prager
R
R
Rabsch
W
W
Tschäpe
H
H
Cízek
A
A
Janda
J
J
Bláhová
K
K
Karch
H
H
D000818:Animals; D002417:Cattle / Q000382:microbiology*; D002648:Child; D003967:Diarrhea / Q000382:microbiology; D004197:Disease Reservoirs; D016521:Electrophoresis, Gel, Pulsed-Field; D004927:Escherichia coli Infections / Q000382:microbiology / Q000635:transmission*; D019453:Escherichia coli O157 / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000378:metabolism; D005285:Fermentation; D006463:Hemolytic-Uremic Syndrome / Q000382:microbiology; D006801:Humans; D018189:Immunomagnetic Separation; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D022622:Shiga Toxin 1 / Q000096:biosynthesis; D022641:Shiga Toxin 2 / Q000096:biosynthesis; D013012:Sorbitol / Q000378:metabolism
D022622:Shiga Toxin 1; D022641:Shiga Toxin 2; D013012:Sorbitol