Prevalence and diversity of enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli strains in fresh produce.
Analysis of fresh produce showed that enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) strains are most often found in cilantro and parsley, with prevalence rates of approximately 0.3%. Some ETEC strains also carried Shiga toxigenic E. coli (STEC) genes but had no STEC adherence factors, which are essential to cause severe human illness. Most ETEC strains in produce carried stable toxin and/or labile toxin genes but belonged to unremarkable serotypes that have not been reported to have caused human illnesses.
Division of Microbiology, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, College Park, Maryland, 20740, USA. peter.feng@fda.hhs.gov.
Peter C H
PC
Feng
Agricultural Marketing Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, D.C. 20250, USA.
Shanker P
SP
Reddy
D044822:Biodiversity; D054307:Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D005506:Food Contamination / Q000032:analysis* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005638:Fruit / Q000382:microbiology*; D006801:Humans; D015995:Prevalence; D014675:Vegetables / Q000382:microbiology*