Open AccessSurvey of the contamination of foodstuffs of animal origin by Shiga toxin producing Escherichia coli serotype O157:H7 in Belgium from 1999 to 2003
Author(s) -
Amina Chahed,
Y. Ghafir,
Bernard China,
K. Dierick,
Lieven De Zutter,
Denis Piérard,
Georges Daube
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
euro surveillance/eurosurveillance
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.766
H-Index - 104
eISSN - 1560-7917
pISSN - 1025-496X
DOI - 10.2807/esm.10.03.00527-en
Subject(s) - serotype , stx2 , escherichia coli , microbiology and biotechnology , biology , shiga toxin , toxin , food contaminant , shiga like toxin , contamination , food microbiology , food science , veterinary medicine , bacteria , medicine , ecology , biochemistry , gene , genetics
A survey of the prevalence of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) of O157 serotype in foodstuffs of animal origin (beef, veal, pork, chicken, fish) from 1999 to 2003 in Belgium was performed. STEC strains were only isolated from beef with a prevalence of 0.73%. This percentage is low in comparison with the prevalence in other countries. Among the 76 isolated STEC O157 strains, 75% belonged to the serotype O157:H7 and 25% to the serotype O157 non H7. Moreover, the most frequent pathotype was eae stx2 ehxA (74%).