Escherichia coli O157:H7 (E. coli O157:H7) is recognized as a hazardous microorganism in the environment and for public health. The E. coli O157:H7 survival dynamics were investigated in 12 representative soils from Jiangsu Province, where the largest E. coli O157:H7 infection in China occurred. It was observed that E. coli O157:H7 declined rapidly in acidic soils (pH, 4.57 - 5.14) but slowly i...

Immunosuppressed persons such as HIV/AIDS patients are at risk of acquiring diarrhoeal infections from water-borne E. coli O157:H7. In the present study, we investigated the prevalence of E. coli O157:H7 in drinking water collected from selected distribution systems within the Amathole District of the Eastern Cape and its predicted impact on diarrhoeic conditions of HIV/AIDS persons living in t...

Escherichia coli O157 antigen-specific bacteriophages were isolated and tested to determine their ability to lyse laboratory cultures of Escherichia coli O157:H7. A total of 53 bovine or ovine fecal samples were enriched for phage, and 5 of these samples were found to contain lytic phages that grow on E. coli O157:H7. Three bacteriophages, designated KH1, KH4, and KH5, were evaluated. At 37 or ...

Enterohemorrhagic E. coli strains (EHEC) had emerged as foodborne pathogens and cause in human diarrhea and hemolytic-uremic syndrome. Because of the widespread distribution of EHEC serotypes and O157 and non-O157 in cattle population, its control will require interventions at the farm level such as the administration of probiotics that produce inhibitory metabolites. E. coli O157:H7 shows tiss...

The influence of nutrients in wastewater from dairy lagoons on the survival of Escherichia coli O157:H7 was monitored. Initially, the survival of E. coli O157:H7 in wastewater from which the competing native organisms had been removed by filter sterilization or autoclaving was compared with that in wastewater from which competing organisms had not been removed. Numbers of E. coli O157:H7 or E. ...

The O157 antigen of Escherichia coli shares structural elements with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) antigens of other bacterial species, notably Brucella abortus and Yersinia enterocolitica 09, a fact that confounds the interpretation of assays for anti-O157 antibodies. To address this problem, a blocking enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (bELISA) was designed with E. coli O157:H7 LPS as the antigen ...

Escherichia coli (E.coli) O157 that do not produce Shiga toxin and do not possess flagellar antigen H7 are of diverse H serotypes. In this study, the antibiotic resistance properties, genotype of a set of virulence associated genes and the phylogenetic background of E. coli O157:non-H7 groups were compared. Whole genome sequencing was performed on fourteen O157:non-H7 isolates collected in the ...

Surface water and groundwater are continuously used as sources of drinking water in many metropolitan areas of the United States. The quality of water from these sources may be reduced due to increases in contaminants such as Escherichia coli from urban and agricultural runoffs. In this study, a multiplex fluorogenic PCR assay was used to quantify E. coli O157:H7 in soil, manure, cow and calf f...

AIMS To determine if thyroid function affects faecal shedding of Escherichia coli O157:H7. METHODS AND RESULTS Eight yearling cattle (n = 4 per treatment group), previously identified as shedding E. coli O157:H7, received either 0 or 10 mg 6-N-propyl-2-thiouracil (PTU) kg(-1) BW day(-1) for 14 days to reduce serum concentrations of the thyroid hormones, T(3) and T(4). Animals were monitored d...

Characterization of an Escherichia coli O157 strain collection (n = 42) derived from healthy Hungarian cattle revealed the existence of diverse pathotypes. Enteropathogenic E. coli (EPEC; eae positive) appeared to be the most frequent pathotype (n = 22 strains), 11 O157 strains were typical enterohemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC; stx and eae positive), and 9 O157 strains were atypical, with none of th...