The prevalence of Escherichia coli O157:H7 fecal shedding in feedlot pens is affected by the water-to-cattle ratio: A randomized controlled trial

Abstract

Escherichia coli O157:H7 fecal shedding in feedlot cattle is common and is a public health concern due to the risk of foodborne transmission that can result in severe, or even fatal, disease in people. Despite a large body of research, few practical and cost-effective farm-level interventions have been identified. In this study, a randomized controlled trial was conducted to assess the effect of reducing the level of water in automatically refilling water-troughs on fecal shedding of E. coli O157:H7 in feedlot cattle. Pens in a feedlot in the Texas Panhandle were randomly allocated as control (total number: 17) or intervention (total number: 18) pens. Fecal samples (2,759 in total) were collected both at baseline and three weeks after the intervention, and tested for the presence of E. coli O157:H7 using immunomagnetic bead separation and selective culture. There was a strong statistical association between sampling date and the likelihood of a fecal sample testing positive for E. coli O157:H7. Pen was also a strong predictor of fecal prevalence. Despite accounting for this high level of clustering, a statistically significant association between reduced water levels in the trough and increased prevalence of E. coli O157:H7 in the feces was observed (Odds Ratio = 1.6; 95% Confidence Interval: 1.2–2.0; Likelihood Ratio Test: p = 0.02). This is the first time that such an association has been reported, and suggests that increasing water-trough levels may be effective in reducing shedding of E. coli O157:H7 in cattle feces, although further work would be needed to test this hypothesis. Controlling E. coli O157:H7 fecal shedding at the pre-harvest level may lead to a reduced burden of human foodborne illness attributed to this pathogen in beef.

Effect of Weather on the Die-Off of Escherichia coli and Attenuated Salmonella enterica Serovar Typhimurium on Preharvest Leafy Greens following Irrigation with Contaminated Water

“…The corresponding regression models are referred to as the 96-h regression model, the 24-h regression model, and the 8-h regression model to distinguish the time frames over which the weather variables were calculated. Model fit was also assessed using the protocol described by Beauvais et al (71) to check for normality of the residuals, heteroskedasticity, and a linear relationship between the exposure and outcome.…”

“…Once the base model was developed, representative weather predictors for each principle component were included in the base model and backwards selection was performed as described above to determine the final model. Model fit was also assessed using the protocol described by Beauvais et al ( 71 ) to determine if the assumption of linearity between the exposure and log odds of the outcome was met.…”

Antibiotics and Antibiotic Resistance Genes in Animal Manure – Consequences of Its Application in Agriculture

“…A number of studies have found E. coli strain O157 isolated from cattle feces from commercial and communal farms to be resistant to erythromycin, tetracycline, sulfamethoxazole, chloramphenicol, kanamycin, ampicillin and streptomycin ( Ateba and Bezuidenhout, 2008 ; Volkova et al, 2012 ). Most infections caused by E. coli O157: H7 result from the consumption of food and water contaminated with the fecal matter of infected animals ( Beauvais et al, 2018 ). Increased ESC resistance has frequently been reported in E. coli and Salmonella enterica from dairy cattle, and this was found to be caused mainly by ESBL or AmpC; many of these organisms have been classified as MDR ( Sawant et al, 2007 ; Seiffert et al, 2013 ).…”

Isolation, Identification, and Critical Points of Risk of Escherichia coli O157:H7 Contamination at Aceh Cattle Breeding Centre

“…A lowest percentage of isolation of the bacteria was only obtained in the water containers, which is only 9.1% of all location for sample collection. A high percentage of isolation of E. coli from tap water sample could be caused by a large pool of standing water before drink by the cattle [7]. In addition, the source of water need to be check further, which may be contaminated by a material that contained E. coli bacteria, i.e.…”

“…Several reports have also suggested some possible critical points of E. coli O157:H7 infection as well as the risk of spread to a wider population. Among of this point are hand of workers in farm and abattoir, water through, irrigation water, as well as fresh fruits and vegetables growing in surrounding area of cattle farm location [2,4,5,6,7]. It means, those critical points need to be closely monitored for any risk of the route of spread of E. coli O157:H7 infection both to animal and human.…”