2003 Volume 56 Issue 11 Pages 745-749
Inspections of randomly collected cecal contents of 675 head of cattle from about 40, 000 animals processed at slaughterhouses in Hiroshima between April 1999 and March 2002 detected enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) O157 in 35 animals. The overall carrier rate was 5.2% and tended to be high among Japanese Black cattle. The strain was detected only in animals less than 3 years of age. Detection rates were higher in warm summer months. All detected EHEC O157 serotypes were H7, and VT2-positive strains were in the majority (54.3%). Among cattle on farms where EHEC O157 was continually detected, drug susceptibility and VT type were identical. RAPD profiles of the strain showed patterns differing as a result of several kinds of primers.
