title: Low prevalence of Escherichia coli O157:H7 in horses in Ohio, USA.
abstract: Manure from draft animals deposited in fields during vegetable and fruit production may serve as a potential source of preharvest pathogen contamination of foods. To better quantify this risk, we determined the prevalence of Escherichia coli O157:H7 in horses. Between June and September 2009, freshly voided fecal samples were collected from horses stabled on 242 separate premises in Ohio, USA. Overall, the prevalence of E. coli O157:H7 was 1 of 242 (0.4% prevalence, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.01 to 2.28). E. coli O157:H7 was recovered from none of the 107 equine fecal samples (0% prevalence, 95% CI = 0.00 to 3.39) that originated from locations without ruminant presence, and only 1 of the 135 horse fecal samples (0.7% prevalence, 95% CI = 0.02 to 4.06) from sites where ruminants were also present. The lone positive sample was collected from a horse that was costabled with a goat. Subsequent sampling at that location identified indistinguishable subtypes of E. coli O157:H7 present in the cohoused goat, in the environment, insects, sheep, and other goats housed in an adjacent field. E. coli O157:H7 was not isolated from the five subsequent samples from this horse. These data indicate that E. coli O157:H7 carriage by horses is an uncommon event.
authors.affiliation: Food Animal Health Research Program, Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center, The Ohio State University, Wooster, Ohio 44691, USA. lejeune.3@osu.edu
authors.forename: Brandy
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Lengacher
authors.forename: Terence R
authors.initials: TR
authors.lastname: Kline
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Harpster
authors.forename: Michele L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Williams
authors.forename: Jeffrey T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Lejeune
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002353:Carrier State / Q000382:microbiology / Q000662:veterinary*; D015169:Colony Count, Microbial; D018556:Crops, Agricultural / Q000382:microbiology; D019453:Escherichia coli O157 / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D005506:Food Contamination / Q000517:prevention & control; D005516:Food Microbiology; D006736:Horses / Q000382:microbiology*; D008372:Manure / Q000382:microbiology*; D016017:Odds Ratio; D009820:Ohio / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence
chemical_list: D008372:Manure