Loading...
The virulence of E. coli 0157:H7 isolated from Irish sheep and pigs to humans
Lenahan, Mary Sheridan, James J. O'Brien, Stephen
Lenahan, Mary
Sheridan, James J.
O'Brien, Stephen
Citations
Altmetric:
Date
2008-02
Files
Loading...
Report 96.pdf
Adobe PDF, 257.79 KB
Research Projects
Organizational Units
Journal Issue
Citation
The virulence of E. coli 0157:H7 isolated from Irish sheep and pigs to humans. The National Food Centre Research Report No. 96. Mary Lenahan et al. Dublin; Teagasc, 2008. ISBN 184170508X
Abstract
Investigations were carried out at five sheep and five pig export abattoirs
situated in the Republic of Ireland to determine the prevalence of E. coli
O157:H7 in these animals at slaughter. This is the first study for the presence
of E. coli O157:H7 on sheep and pigs to be carried out in Ireland. Faeces and
pre- and post-chill carcass swabs were collected from pigs over a one year
period between January and December 2004. Samples were collected from
sheep over a 13-month period between February 2005 and February 2006.
The pig study recovered E. coli O157:H7 from 0.24 % (n=4) of 1680 porcine
samples while the sheep study isolated the pathogen from 2.1 % (n=33) of
1600 ovine samples. PCR analysis of E. coli O157:H7 isolates determined that
they carried the virulence genes vt1, vt2, eaeA and hlyA typically associated
with clinical illness in humans. The results presented indicate that Irish sheep
and pigs are reservoirs for E. coli O157:H7 which may be potentially harmful
to humans.