Fecal carriage of Escherichia coli O157:H7 and carcass contamination in cattle at slaughter in northern Italy.
Feedlot cattle slaughtered at a large abattoir in northern Italy during 2002 were examined for intestinal carriage and carcass contamination with Escherichia coli O157:H7. Carcass samples were taken following the excision method described in the Decision 471/2001/EC, and fecal material was taken from the colon of the calves after evisceration. Bacteria were isolated and identified according to the MFLP-80 and MFLP-90 procedures (Food Directorate's Health Canada's). Eighty-eight non-sorbitol-fermenting E. coli O157:H7 isolates were obtained from 12 of the 45 calves examined. In particular, E. coli O157:H7 isolates were found in 11 (24%) fecal and five (11%) carcass samples. PCR analysis showed that all 11 fecal samples and five carcass samples carried eae-gamma1-positive E. coli O157:H7 isolates. In addition, genes encoding Shigatoxins were detected in O157:H7 isolates from nine and two of those 11 fecal and five carcasses, respectively. A representative group of 32 E. coli O157:H7 isolates was analyzed by phage typing and DNA macrorestriction fragment analysis (PFGE). Five phage types (PT8, PT32v, PT32, PT54, and PT not typable) and seven (I-VII) distinct restriction patterns of similarity >85% were detected. Up to three different O157:H7 strains in an individual fecal sample and up to four from the same animal could be isolated. These findings provide evidence of the epidemiological importance of subtyping more than one isolate from the same sample. Phage typing together with PFGE proved to be very useful tools to detect cross-contamination among carcasses and should therefore be included in HACCP programs at abattoirs. The results showed that the same PFGE-phage type E. coli O157:H7 profile was detected in the fecal and carcass samples from an animal, and also in two more carcasses corresponding to two animals slaughtered the same day.
Alonso
Silvia
S
E. coli Reference Laboratory (LREC), Faculty of Veterinary, University of Santiago de Compostela, Lugo, Spain.
Mora
Azucena
A
Blanco
Miguel
M
Blanco
Jesús E
JE
Dahbi
Ghizlane
G
Ferreiro
María T
MT
López
Cecilia
C
Alberghini
Leonardo
L
Albonetti
Sabrina
S
Echeita
Aurora
A
Trevisani
Marcello
M
Blanco
Jorge
J
D000003:Abattoirs; D000818:Animals; D001434:Bacteriophage Typing; D002353:Carrier State; D002417:Cattle; D004927:Escherichia coli Infections / Q000517:prevention & control; D019453:Escherichia coli O157 / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D005243:Feces / Q000382:microbiology*; D005506:Food Contamination; D005516:Food Microbiology; D005798:Genes, Bacterial; D006463:Hemolytic-Uremic Syndrome / Q000517:prevention & control; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy; D008460:Meat / Q000382:microbiology*; D012150:Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length; D022603:Shiga Toxins / Q000235:genetics
D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins; D022603:Shiga Toxins