Prevalence and Molecular Epidemiological Analysis of Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli in Cattle at a Slaughterhouse in Shimane Prefecture, Japan

Abstract

To examine the prevalence of enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) among cattle transported to a slaughterhouse in Shimane Prefecture, 100 cows raised on 20 farms were surveyed between April and December 2014. As a result of the survey, 10 EHEC O157 strains were isolated from the rectal feces of six cows and the body surfaces of four cows raised on six different farms (A-F) between May and August. Of these strains, nine carried either the stx2a or stx2c gene. In addition, molecular epidemiological analysis was conducted in 2014 using the IS-Printing system, resulting in the isolation of cow and human O157 strains in Shimane Prefecture. These strains showed no identical patterns. However, those isolated from the body surfaces of cows from farms A and B exhibited the same patterns.