The usefulness of an automated ribotyping system (RiboPrinter) was evaluated for characterizing and identifying clinical isolates of 37 verocytotoxin-producing Escherichia coli (VTEC) strains and 16 non-VTEC strains. All strains were successfully ribotyped with satisfactory reproducibility and stability and characterized into 10 different ribogroups. All VTEC O157 strains were characterized int...

The aim of the study was to define the prevalence of verotoxin-producing Escherichia coli (VTEC) in cattle and pigs in a Hong Kong abattoir. Faecal and carcass samples collected from 986 cattle and 487 pigs from an abattoir were tested for verotoxin (VT) by PCR and cytotoxicity assays. VTEC was isolated from 415 and 1-8% of cattle faecal and carcass samples and from 2.1 and 0.2% of porcine faec...

During the period from September 1996 through November 1996, 10 Dutch dairy farms were visited to collect fecal samples from all cattle present. The samples were examined for the presence of verocytotoxin (VT)-producing Escherichia coli (VTEC) of serogroup O157 (O157 VTEC) by immunomagnetic separation following selective enrichment. Cattle on 7 of the 10 dairy farms tested positive for O157 VTE...

Serotypes and antibiotic resistance of 51 Verotoxigenic (VTEC) and 33 Necrotizing (NTEC) bovine Escherichia coli strains were determined and compared with those shown by 205 non-VTEC non-NTEC strains isolated from the same batch of calves. E. coli untypable for O-antigen represented 47% of the VTEC, 12% of the NTEC and 8.8% of the non-VTEC non-NTEC. Typable VTEC belonged to serotypes 02:K?, 010...

Verotoxinogenic E. coli O157:H7 (VTEC O157:H7) can cause severe disease in humans, with bloody diarrhea and complications such as haemolytic uraemic syndrome (HUS), thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP) and even death. Animals carry VTEC O157:H7 asymptomatically. Ruminants, especially cattle, are considered to be the main reservoir, although the bacterium can occasionally be isolated from o...

BACKGROUND/AIM A "new" pathogenic agent, verocytotoxin--producing Escherichia coli (VTEC) emerged in the last 20 years, causing an increased number of sporadic cases, as well as of outbreaks of diarrhoeal diseases. Humans and animals can be infected with VTEC, but their epidemiological importance as a reservoir of this agent is not quite clear, especially in the Balkan region. Therefore, the ai...

Verocytotoxin-producing Escherichia coli (VTEC) is recognized as a food-borne pathogen of major importance. Infection by VTEC is known to cause a wide range of symptoms, from uncomplicated diarrhoea to haemorrhagic colitis, haemolytic uraemic syndrome and death. VTEC has primarily been isolated from cattle. However, in several countries VTEC has also been isolated from pigs. The prevalence in D...

In recent years increased attention has been focused on infections caused by isolates of verocytotoxin-producing Escherichia coli (VTEC) serotypes other than O157. These non-O157 VTEC isolates are commonly present in food and food production animals. Easy detection, isolation, and characterization of non-O157 VTEC isolates are essential for improving our knowledge of these organisms. In the pre...

The number of verocytotoxin producing Escherichia coli (VTEC) present in the faeces during an infection may be very low, making their detection difficult. We report a method for enhancing toxin production by VTEC using mitomycin C as an inducing agent with the aim of improving the detection of VTEC. In pure culture, mitomycin C enhanced toxin production up to 100-fold. When applied to mixed fae...

Rectal fecal samples were taken once a week from 49 calves on the same farm. In addition, the dams of the calves were sampled at the time of calf birth and at the end of the study. Strains of verocytotoxin-producing Escherichia coli (VTEC) were isolated from these samples by using PCR and DNA probe hybridization tests and were characterized with respect to serotype, verocytotoxin gene (vtx) typ...