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Prevalence and characteristics of verotoxin‐producing Escherichia coli (VTEC) in stool samples from asymptomatic human carriers working in the meat processing industry in Switzerland
Author(s) -
Stephan R.,
Ragettli S.,
Untermann F.
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
journal of applied microbiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.889
H-Index - 156
eISSN - 1365-2672
pISSN - 1364-5072
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-2672.2000.00965.x
Subject(s) - vtec , microbiology and biotechnology , serotype , escherichia coli , biology , intimin , enterotoxin , virulence , shiga like toxin , plasmid , polymerase chain reaction , genotype , virology , shiga toxin , enterobacteriaceae , gene , genetics
A total of 5590 stool samples from healthy employees in the meat industry were screened by PCR for verotoxin‐producing Escherichia coli (VTEC). The PCR product of VT‐encoding genes was detected in 3·5% of the samples. Phenotypic and genotypic traits of 47 VTEC strains isolated from asymptomatic carriers were characterized. A variety of serotypes was found; one strain belonged to the serotype O157:H7. The majority of the isolates proved to be VT2‐positive. Fifty‐seven percent of the verotoxin‐producing strains harboured the genes for one or several additional virulence associated factors, including intimin ( eae, 8·5%), the 60 MDa plasmid (42·5%), enterohaemolysin (EHEC‐ hly A, 38·3%), the heat‐stable enterotoxin ( ast A, 6·4%), a serin protease ( esp P, 6·4%), colicin production ( col D157, 12·8%) and a secretion system II ( etp D, 10·6%). None of the strains was positive for a specific enzyme with catalase‐peroxidase activity ( kat P).