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ARS Home » Midwest Area » Ames, Iowa » National Animal Disease Center » Food Safety and Enteric Pathogens Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #102873
Title: ESCHERICHIA COLI O157:H7 CAUSE SEVERE SYSTEMIC DISEASE IN NEONATAL SUCKLINGPIGLETS (VIRULENCE MECHANISMS OF BACTERIAL PATHOGENS, 9/12-15/99, AMES, IA)

Author
item Nystrom, Evelyn
item POHLENZ, J - UNIV OF HANNOVER, GERMANY
item MOON, H - IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY
item O'BRIEN, A - UNIFORMED SRVCS UNIV HLTH

Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 9/15/1999
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Cattle are important reservoirs of enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli O157:H7 that cause hemorrhagic colitis and hemolytic uremic syndrome in humans. Our goal is to develop a vaccine that prevents EHEC O157:H7 infections in cattle and thus reduces human infections. Intimin, a bacterial adhesin required for EHEC O157:H7 pathogenesis in neonatal calves, is a good vaccine candidate. Our objective was to determine if suckling piglets, like colostrum-deprived (CD) piglets that are used to study EHEC pathogenesis, are susceptible to EHEC O157:H7 infection and can be used as surrogate models for testing vaccines. To our surprise, EHEC O157:H7 strain 86-24 caused neurological disease in more neonatal suckling (30 of 30) than CD piglets (3 of 15). Neurological signs appeared earlier in suckling piglets (< 24 h PI) than in CD piglets (greater than or equal to 42 h PI) and brain lesions were more common and more severe in suckling piglets. EHEC 86-24 caused attaching and effacing (A/E) lesions in all suckling and CD piglets. Shiga toxin-negative O157:H7 strain 87-23 caused no neurological disease but did produce A/E lesions in suckling piglets. Because Shiga toxin-positive EHEC caused such rapid and severe systemic disease in suckling piglets, it will be more humane to use a nontoxigenic, intimin-producing O157:H7 strain for testing the efficacy of intimin vaccines.