Skip to main content
ARS Home » Northeast Area » Wyndmoor, Pennsylvania » Eastern Regional Research Center » Characterization and Interventions for Foodborne Pathogens » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #314244
Title: Shiga toxin-producing E. coli: update on methods and tools for rapid detection, identification, and isolation

Author
item Fratamico, Pina

Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 2/6/2015
Publication Date: 6/23/2015
Citation: Fratamico, P.M. 2015. Shiga toxin-producing E. coli: update on methods and tools for rapid detection, identification, and isolation. Meeting Abstract. meeting abstract.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) serotype O157:H7 and many non-O157 serogroups are important food-borne pathogens that have been linked to numerous outbreaks and sporadic cases of gastrointestinal illness and hemolytic uremic syndrome worldwide. Cattle and other ruminants, as well as other animals such as swine are major reservoirs for STEC, and meat products have been linked to numerous outbreaks and cases of human illness. E. coli O157:H7 and STEC serogroups O26, O45, O103, O111, O121, and O145 have been classified as adulterants in beef by the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service, and a regulatory testing program for these pathogens has been in place. In addition to carrying one or more types of Shiga toxin genes, strains that cause serious human illness carry the eae gene (encodes for intimin), and the stx and eae genes have been used as targets for screening for STEC in food. However, STEC isolated from humans, the environment, and animals possess a number of other potentially important virulence genes, and the STEC virulence gene profiles vary in strains from different sources. Thus, non-O157 STEC comprise a rather heterogeneous group of organisms in terms of their virulence and phenotypic characteristics, resulting in challenges related to the development of methods to rapidly and reliably detect these pathogens. In recent years, much progress has been made in understanding the virulence of these pathogens, and PCR-based test kits and other materials such as immumomagnetic separation reagents and latex agglutination kits useful for detection, identification, and isolation of STEC have become available. However, additional research in the development of selective and differential agars for isolation of, particularly, non-O157 STEC strains is needed.