Super-shedding and the link between human infection and livestock carriage of Escherichia coli O157

Chase-Topping, Margo; Gally, David L.; Low, Chris; Matthews, Louise; Woolhouse, Mark

doi:10.1038/nrmicro2029

Cited by 302 publications

(310 citation statements)

References 88 publications

(116 reference statements)

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“…g 21 of E. coli O157 : H7. This demonstration of high level shedding was consistent with results from cattle (Chase-Topping et al, 2008); such animals are considered important for maintaining and spreading the organism within herds (Matthews et al, 2006). There are few other reports of the concentration of this bacterium in sheep faeces, but Ogden et al (2005) found 20 of 44 E. coli O157-positive sheep shedding at 1610 3 c.f.u.…”

Section: Quantitative Studiessupporting

confidence: 75%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Prevalence of Escherichia coli O157 : H7 and serogroups O26, O103, O111 and O145 in sheep presented for slaughter in Scotland

Evans

Knight

McKendrick

et al. 2011

Journal of Medical Microbiology

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Sheep have been proposed as a source of human verocytotoxigenic Escherichia coli infection on a number of occasions but few prevalence studies have focused on identifying rates of carriage of these pathogens in this species. The purpose of this work was to establish the frequency of excretion of E. coli of serogroups O157, O26, O103, O111 and O145 in sheep presented for slaughter in Scotland and to examine their carriage of known virulence determinants. The study involved microbiological isolation of E. coli from 1082 sheep presented for slaughter in four Scottish abattoirs between July 2005 and June 2006. Using faecal enrichment and immunomagnetic separation, the isolation rate from these samples was 3.4 % for E. coli serogroup O157, 5.2 % for E. coli serogroup O26, 2.3 % for E. coli serogroup O103 and 0.1 % for E. coli serogroup O145. E. coli O111 was not isolated. In the last month of testing, which coincided with sorbitol-fermenting E. coli O157 (SFO157) cases in children in Scotland, all 83 recta received were screened and tested negative for SFO157 strains. The study found no verocytotoxin-positive strains amongst the E. coli serogroup O103 or O145 isolates. Verocytotoxin-positive strains were identified amongst isolates of E. coli serotypes O157 : H7 and O26 : H11. E. coli O157 : H7 was not isolated from samples collected between January and March, a statistically significant drop (P,0.001) in mean shedding relative to other months. There was evidence (P50.003) of higher shedding of O157 in adults and hoggs than in lambs. E. coli O26 : H11 was isolated throughout the year, with a statistically significant peak in shedding in the third quarter (P50.003). The results showed that sheep presented for slaughter in Scotland may carry strains of E. coli, particularly of serogroups O157 and O26, which can be presumed to have potential to cause human infection. They did not support a hypothesis that human cases of E. coli O157 : H7 are higher in any particular Scottish region as a direct consequence of a higher rate of faecal carriage in sheep in that region. INTRODUCTIONEscherichia coli strains that produce verocytotoxins are important pathogens causing human illnesses ranging from diarrhoea to haemorrhagic colitis and haemolytic uraemic syndrome (Karmali, 1989;Riley, 1987). In the UK, North America, Japan and much of continental Europe, such disease is commonly caused by E. coli strains of serogroup O157 (Riley et al., 1983;Kleanthous et al., 1990;Willshaw et al., 2001;Kaper et al., 2004;Chase-Topping et al., 2008).A variety of infection routes, including food-borne transmission and person-to-person spread, have been described, but in the UK, human infections by E. coli O157 are also recognized arising from direct contact with animal reservoirs (Locking et al., 2001;O'Brien et al., 2001). Examples of where infection has been specifically associated with sheep include: illness linked with lambing ewes (Allison et al., 1997); sheep faeces apparently contaminating the water supply at a campsite outbreak (Licence et...

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Section: Quantitative Studiessupporting

confidence: 75%

“…In the UK, North America, Japan and much of continental Europe, such disease is commonly caused by E. coli strains of serogroup O157 (Riley et al, 1983;Kleanthous et al, 1990;Willshaw et al, 2001;Kaper et al, 2004;Chase-Topping et al, 2008).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Prevalence of Escherichia coli O157 : H7 and serogroups O26, O103, O111 and O145 in sheep presented for slaughter in Scotland

Evans

Knight

McKendrick

et al. 2011

Journal of Medical Microbiology

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“…Cattle and their environments are a reservoir of E. coli O157 [4][5][6]. Some strains produce verocytotoxin (verocytotoxigenic E. coli (VTEC) O157) and can be excreted in cattle faeces in high numbers, leading to the concept of super-shedding [7,8]. Certain subtypes of E. coli O157, specifically those with the genetic marker encoding toxin vtx 2, are more likely to be associated with super-shedding in cattle and these also appear to pose the greatest risk for transmission to humans [8,9].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

BritishEscherichia coliO157 in Cattle Study (BECS): to determine the prevalence ofE. coliO157 in herds with cattle destined for the food chain

et al. 2017

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SUMMARYEscherichia coli O157 are zoonotic bacteria for which cattle are an important reservoir. Prevalence estimates for E. coli O157 in British cattle for human consumption are over 10 years old. A new baseline is needed to inform current human health risk. The British E. coli O157 in Cattle Study (BECS) ran between September 2014 and November 2015 on 270 farms across Scotland and England & Wales. This is the first study to be conducted contemporaneously across Great Britain, thus enabling comparison between Scotland and England & Wales. Herd-level prevalence estimates for E. coli O157 did not differ significantly for Scotland (0·236, 95% CI 0·166-0·325) and England & Wales (0·213, 95% CI 0·156-0·283) (P = 0·65). The majority of isolates were verocytotoxin positive. A higher proportion of samples from Scotland were in the super-shedder category, though there was no difference between the surveys in the likelihood of a positive farm having at least one super-shedder sample. E. coli O157 continues to be common in British beef cattle, reaffirming public health policy that contact with cattle and their environments is a potential infection source.

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“…3 billion [4] and England approximately £750 million per annum [5]. These pathogens cause a range of symptoms from diarrhoea, abdominal pain, fever and vomiting [6][7][8][9][10][11][12] to haemolytic-uraemic syndrome (e.g. E. coli O157) [13,14], Guillian-Barre´syndrome (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A population-based exposure assessment of risk factors associated with gastrointestinal pathogens: aCampylobacterstudy

2012

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SUMMARYA questionnaire survey was undertaken to determine the exposure of a study population to campylobacteriosis source risk factors (environmental, water, food) and results were stratified by age, population density and deprivation. Data were gathered using an exposure assessment carried out by telephone in the Grampian region of Scotland. Univariate analysis showed that children aged 5-14 years, living in low population density (0-44 . 4 persons/km 2 ) and affluent areas had elevated exposure to environmental and water risk factors. Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that younger age groups and lower population density were significant indicators for most environmental risk factors. The results compared to reported disease incidence in Grampian showed that greater exposure to risk factors does not necessarily coincide with greater disease incidence for age groups, particularly for the 0-4 years age group. Further research is required to explain the relationship between exposure and disease incidence.

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Super-shedding and the link between human infection and livestock carriage of Escherichia coli O157

Cited by 302 publications

References 88 publications

Prevalence of Escherichia coli O157 : H7 and serogroups O26, O103, O111 and O145 in sheep presented for slaughter in Scotland

Prevalence of Escherichia coli O157 : H7 and serogroups O26, O103, O111 and O145 in sheep presented for slaughter in Scotland

BritishEscherichia coliO157 in Cattle Study (BECS): to determine the prevalence ofE. coliO157 in herds with cattle destined for the food chain

A population-based exposure assessment of risk factors associated with gastrointestinal pathogens: aCampylobacterstudy

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