Introduction The outbreak of Shiga Toxin producing Escherichia coli O104:H4 linked to bean sprouts led to over 3800 confirmed cases of illness that included more than 823 cases of Haemolytic Uremic Syndrome (HUS) and 44 deaths (Frank et al., 2011). Although it appeared that the O104:H4 serotype came from nowhere the pathogen had actually been isolated in Germany 10 years ago. The outbreak in Ge...

We determined the prevalence of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) in diarrheal stool samples from Nebraska by three methods: cefixime-tellurite sorbitol MacConkey (CT- SMAC) culture, enterohemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC) enzyme immunoassay, and stx1,2 polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Fourteen (4.2%) of 335 specimens were positive by at least one method (CT-SMAC culture [6 of 14], EHEC en...

A multiplex real-time PCR method to simultaneously detect the stx1 and stx2 genes of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli and a unique conserved single-nucleotide polymorphism in the E. coli O157:H7/H- uidA gene has been developed. There is more than 98.6% sensitivity and 100% specificity for all three gene targets based on a panel of 138 isolates. The PCR efficiencies were >/= 1.89, and as f...

Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli isolates from two 2006 outbreaks were compared to other O157:H7 isolates for virulence genotype, biofilm formation, and stress responses. Spinach- and lettuce-related-outbreak strains had similar pulsed-field gel electrophoresis patterns, and all carried both stx2 and stx2c variant genes. Cooperative biofilm formation involving an E. coli O157:H7 strain an...

Human intestinal cells lack globotriaosylceramide (Gb(3)), the receptor for Shiga toxin-1 (Stx1) and Shiga toxin-2 (Stx2). Therefore, the role of these toxins in mediating intestinal disease during infection with Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli is unclear. The aims of this study were to determine whether Stx1 and Stx2 induce apoptosis in epithelial cells expressing (HEp-2, Caco-2) or lac...

the aim of this study was to identify virulent shiga toxin-producing escherichia coli (stec) strains isolated from faecal samples of 100 clinically healthy calves. in the present study, a total of 100 escherichia coli (e. coli) isolates from clinically healthy calves belonging to 6 different farms located in khorasan razavi province, iran, were examined for presence of virulence genes character...

To determine the presence of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) and other potentially diarrheagenic E. coli strains in retail meats, 7,258 E. coli isolates collected by the U.S. National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System (NARMS) retail meat program from 2002 to 2007 were screened for Shiga toxin genes. In addition, 1,275 of the E. coli isolates recovered in 2006 were examine...

Mastitis is a major problem in dairy farms and E. coli mastitis especially is a major disease in cows (1) because of the latter increasing incidence and severe symptoms (16). The concept of E. coli mastitis is that the organisms live in the environment and contaminate the teats probably as a result of fecal contamination (20). Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) isolates are an important group...