Molecular analysis as an aid to assess the public health risk of non-O157 Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli strains.

ABSTRACT: Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) strains are commensal bacteria in cattle with high potential for environmental and zoonotic transmission to humans. Although O157:H7 is the most common STEC serotype, there is growing concern over the emergence of more than 200 highly virulent non-O157 STEC serotypes that are globally distributed, several of which are associated with outbreaks and/or severe human illness such as hemolytic-uremic syndrome (HUS) and hemorrhagic colitis. At present, the underlying genetic basis of virulence potential in non-O157 STEC is unknown, although horizontal gene transfer and the acquisition of new pathogenicity islands are an expected origin. We used seropathotype classification as a framework to identify genetic elements that distinguish non-O157 STEC str

SUBMITTER: Coombes BK 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2292595 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature