2009 Volume 13 Issue 2 Pages 107-113
From July 2001 to September 2004, 571 fecal samples from cattle and 363 retail food samples including 150 of beef, 50 of chicken meat, 51 of duck meat and 112 of shrimp were examined for the prevalence of Escherichia coli O157 in the Mekong Delta, Southern Vietnam. E. coli O157 was isolated from 2.1% (12/571) of the cattle and from 15% (6/40) of the farms, but was not isolated from foods. E. coli O157 was isolated from 4% (3/75) of calves (≤6 month) and 1.8% (9/496) of cattle (>6 month). Of 15 isolates, 12 (80%) possessed the eae and EHEC-hlyA genes and 13 (86.7%) carried the stx2 gene. No stx1gene was detected from any O157 isolates. Of 15 isolates, 12 (80%) were O157 : H7 and 3 (20%) were O157 : H-. Three of 15 isolates showed antibiotic resistance to one or more antibiotics.
These results indicate that this pathogen is distributed in cattle in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam. This is the first isolation of E. coli O157 in the Mekong Delta, Southern Vietnam.
