Escherichia coli O157:H7 is a major food safety concern for the beef industry. Several studies have provided evidence that cattle hides are the main source of beef carcass contamination during processing and that reductions in the E. coli O157:H7 load on the hides of cattle entering processing facilities will lead to reductions in carcass contamination. Bacteriophages have been proposed as a no...

In the present study, the ability of bovine lactoferrin hydrolysate (LfH) to disrupt the cytoplasmic membrane of Escherichia coli O157:H7 was investigated. Lactoferrin and LfH antimicrobial activities were compared against E. coli O157:H7 and E. coli O157:H7 spheroplasts. The effect of LfH on the cytoplasmic membrane of E. coli O157:H7 cells was determined by evaluating potassium efflux (K(+)),...

Escherichia (E.) coli serotype O157:H7 is a globally distributed human enteropathogen and is comprised of microorganisms with closely related genotypes. The main reservoir for this group is bovine bowels, and infection mainly occurs after ingestion of contaminated water and food. Virulence genetic markers of 28 O157:H7 strains were investigated and multilocus enzyme electrophoresis (MLEE) was u...

Livestock movement is thought to be a risk factor for the transmission of infectious diseases of farm animals. Simple mathematical models were constructed for the transmission of Escherichia coli serogroup O157 between Scottish cattle farms, and the models were used in a preliminary exploration of factors contributing to the levels of infection reported in the field. The results suggest that ca...

Disease outbreaks of verotoxin-producing Escherichia coli (VTEC) O157:H7 and non-O157 serotypes associated with leafy green vegetables are becoming a growing concern. A better understanding of the behavior of VTEC, particularly non-O157 serotypes, on lettuce under stress conditions is necessary for designing more effective control strategies. Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) can be used as a sanitizer ...

Non-O157 Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) is an emerging risk for food safety. Although numerous postharvest antimicrobial interventions have been effectively used to control E. coli O157:H7 during beef harvesting, research regarding their effectiveness against non-O157 STEC is scarce. The objectives of this study were (i) to evaluate effects of the spray treatments-ambient water, ...

Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) are important human pathogens, causing hemorrhagic colitis and hemolytic uraemic syndrome in humans. E. coli O157:H7 is the most common serotype associated with EHEC infections worldwide, although other non-O157 serotypes cause life-threatening infections. Cattle are a main reservoir of EHEC and intervention strategies aimed at limiting EHEC excretion f...

Several real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays have been developed to detect and quantify Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) O157:H7, but none have targeted the O-antigen specific gene (rfbEO157) in combination with the three major virulence genes, stx1, stx2, and eae. Our objectives were to develop and validate a four-plex, quantitative PCR (mqPCR) assay targeting rfbE(O15...

Escherichia coli O157:H7 is a major food safety concern for the beef industry. Several studies have provided evidence that cattle hides are the main source of beef carcass contamination during processing and that reductions in the E. coli O157:H7 load on the hides of cattle entering processing facilities will lead to reductions in carcass contamination. Bacteriophages have been proposed as a no...

Twelve ruminally cannulated cattle, adapted to forage or grain diet with or without monensin, were used to investigate the effects of diet and monensin on concentration and duration of ruminal persistence and fecal shedding of E. coli O157:H7. Cattle were ruminally inoculated with a strain of E. coli O157:H7 (10(10) CFU/animal) made resistant to nalidixic acid (Nal(r)). Ruminal and fecal sample...