Isolation of Shiga toxigenic Escherichia coli from butcheries in Taquaritinga city, State of São Paulo, Brazil

Abstract

Shiga toxigenic Escherichia coli (STEC) has been implicated as the cause of several human diseases. Samples (ground beef, grinding-machines and human hands) from 23 butcheries were assayed for E. coli using standard microbiological methods, and 287 isolates were submitted to polymerase chain reaction for the detection of stx 1, stx 2 and eae genes. Four STEC isolates were recovered, two from ground beef and two from grinding-machines; all harbored the stx 2 gene and were negative for the eae gene. All E. coli isolates including the four STEC were screened for antibiotic resistance. High levels of resistance against several antimicrobial agents were detected; those most commonly observed were to tetracycline (76.6%), amoxicillin (64.1%) and cephalothin (58.8%). Such high levels of antimicrobial resistance highlight the need for a more rational use of these agents in cattle.

Detection of Diarrheagenic Escherichia coli Using a Two‐System Multiplex‐PCR Protocol

“…Interestingly, STEC strain 150 CS that contained a stx2 type gene did not show cytotoxic effects in the Vero cells assay suggesting that it does not express stx2. This was also observed in other studies , some of which detected the presence of the insertion sequence IS1203 interrupting the coding region of the stx2 genes resulting in the inactivation of the genes and absence of cytotoxic effects . DAEC frequency was 0.4% in both groups and EIEC was found only in the diarrheal samples with a frequency of 0.4% (Table ).…”

Beef Carcass Contamination by Shiga Toxin–ProducingEscherichia coliStrains in an Abattoir in Brazil: Characterization and Resistance to Antimicrobial Drugs

“…During the processing of carcasses, fecal contamination or transfer of bacteria from the animal's hide to the carcass can promote transmission of pathogenic E. coli to food supplies (Bell, 1997;Barkocy-Gallagher et al, 2001). Antimicrobial drug resistance data of fecal E. coli strains from animals were difficult to find in the literature from Brazil, most of them showing high levels of resistance against several antimicrobial agents from commensal E. coli isolated from diarrheic calves (Rigobelo et al, 2006) as well as from STEC strains isolated from meat (Rodolpho and Marin, 2007).…”

Shiga toxin‐producingEscherichia coliin the animal reservoir and food in Brazil

“…In Brazil, meat and meat products are the most common foods investigated for the presence of STEC. The percentage of meat and meat products contaminated by STEC ranged from 0 to 20·4% (Cerqueira et al ; Rigobelo et al ; Bergamini et al ; Rodolpho and Marin, ; Rigobelo et al ; Lucatelli ; Loiko et al ; Peresi et al ; Ristori et al ; Castro et al ). However, we highlight the study by Santos et al (), which observed that 80% of the fresh beef collected in the industry processing line was contaminated with STEC (Table ).…”