Surveillance of Escherichia coli O157:H7 among animals in Jiangsu province in 1999 / 中华流行病学杂志

ABSTRACT

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To understand the Escherichia coli O157H7 carrier rate of host animals and the toxic gene of the strains in different areas in Jiangsu province.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Surveillance spots were set up in different areas, to collect feces of pigs, chickens, sheep, cattle to culture for O157H7 with immunomagnetic separation as well as detection of toxic gene of the strain with MPCR were both carried out.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>One hundred and seventy strains of O157H7 were separated from 1 767 feces of different animals in six spots, with a overall positive rate 9.62%. The positive rates of cattle and sheep were 19.05% and 12.01% respectively. Among 85 strains SLT1, SLT2, eaeA and hly toxic genes were detected. In which, 56.47% of the strains were positive curturely while 79.17% of them carried SLT2, eaeA and hly gene simultaneously.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The positive rate of O157H7 in animals and the positive rates of strains were correlated to the incidence of the area. The highest rates were seen in areas where there had been O157H7 epidemic, followed by the areas where there were only scattered cases identified while the lowest was in areas with no patients. Data indicated that it was important to enforce the surveillance of O157H7 in animals to better predict and control of the disease.</p>