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Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only Publication Acceptance Date: 9/11/2014 Publication Date: 9/18/2015 Citation: Fratamico, P.M. 2015. Methods for detection and identification of non-O157 STEC. Meeting Abstract. Meeting Abstract. Interpretive Summary: Technical Abstract: Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) are food-borne pathogens that have been associated worldwide with outbreaks and sporadic cases of gastrointestinal illness and hemolytic uremic syndrome. E. coli O157:H7 is the most commonly recognized STEC, but other E. coli serogroups known as non-O157 STEC have caused outbreaks and illnesses similar to those caused by O157:H7. Cattle are a major reservoir for STEC, and food of bovine origin has been linked to many cases of illness. However, other ruminants, as well as animals, including swine are also reservoirs for STEC. In addition to carrying one more types of Shiga toxin genes, strains that cause serious human illness have the eae gene, that encodes the outer membrane protein, intimin, involved in attachment, as well as other virulence genes. In 1994, E. coli O157:H7 was declared an adulterant in beef by the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service after a large outbreak linked to ground beef. In 2012, six serogroups that are responsible for the majority of cases of the non-O157 STEC illness were also declared as adulterants in beef, and a regulatory testing program for these pathogens was established. Since non-O157 STEC comprise a rather heterogeneous group of organisms in terms of their virulence and phenotypic characteristics, the development of methods to rapidly and reliably detect and isolate these pathogens from foods has been challenging. However, in the past decade, much progress has been made in understanding the virulence of these pathogens, and test kits and other materials useful for detection of non-O157 STEC have become available. |
