Prevalence of Escherichia coli O157:H7 in gallbladders of beef cattle.
Gallbladders and rectal contents were collected from cattle (n=933) at slaughter to determine whether the gallbladder harbors Escherichia coli O157:H7. Both gallbladder mucosal swabs and homogenized mucosal tissues were used for isolation. Only five gallbladders (0.54%) were positive for E. coli O157:H7. Fecal prevalence averaged 7.1%; however, none of the cattle that had E. coli O157:H7 in the gallbladder was positive for E. coli O157:H7 in feces. Therefore, the gallbladder does not appear to be a common site of colonization for E. coli O157:H7 in beef cattle.
Reinstein
S
S
Department of Diagnostic Medicine and Pathobiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506-5606, USA.
Fox
J T
JT
Shi
X
X
Nagaraja
T G
TG
D000003:Abattoirs; D000818:Animals; D002417:Cattle; D002418:Cattle Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology*; D004927:Escherichia coli Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology / Q000662:veterinary*; D019453:Escherichia coli O157 / Q000302:isolation & purification; D005243:Feces / Q000382:microbiology; D005704:Gallbladder / Q000382:microbiology*; D015995:Prevalence