Dataset Information

Isolation and characteristics of Shiga toxin 2f-producing Escherichia coli among pigeons in Kyushu, Japan.

ABSTRACT: An increasing number of Shiga toxin 2f-producing Escherichia coli (STEC2f) infections in humans are being reported in Europe, and pigeons have been suggested as a reservoir for the pathogen. In Japan, there is very little information regarding carriage of STEC2f by pigeons, prompting the need for further investigation. We collected 549 samples of pigeon droppings from 14 locations in Kyushu, Japan, to isolate STEC2f and to investigate characteristics of the isolates. Shiga toxin stx 2f gene fragments were detected by PCR in 16 (2.9%) of the 549 dropping samples across four of the 14 locations. We obtained 23 STEC2f-isolates from seven of the original samples and from three pigeon dropping samples collected in an additional sampling experiment (from a total of seven locations across both sampling periods). Genotypic and phenotypic characteristics were then examined for selected isolates from each of 10 samples with pulsed-field gel electrophoresis profiles. Eight of the stx 2f gene fragments sequenced in this study were homologous to others that were identified in Europe. Some isolates also contained virulence-related genes, including lpfA O26, irp 2, and fyuA, and all of the 10 selected isolates maintained the eae, astA, and cdt genes. Moreover, five of the 10 selected isolates contained sfpA, a gene that is restricted to Shiga toxin-producing E. coli O165:H2 and sorbitol-fermenting Shiga toxin-producing E. coli O157:NM. We document serotypes O152:HNM, O128:HNM, and O145:H34 as STEC2f, which agrees with previous studies on pigeons and humans. Interestingly, O119:H21 was newly described as STEC2f. O145:H34, with sequence type 722, was described in a German study in humans and was also isolated in the current study. These results revealed that Japanese zoonotic STEC2f strains harboring several virulence-related factors may be of the same clonal complexes as some European strains. These findings provide useful information for public health-related disease management strategies in Japan.

SUBMITTER: Murakami K

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3900449 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Isolation and characteristics of Shiga toxin 2f-producing Escherichia coli among pigeons in Kyushu, Japan.

Murakami Koichi K Etoh Yoshiki Y Ichihara Sachiko S Maeda Eriko E Takenaka Shigeyuki S Horikawa Kazumi K Narimatsu Hiroshi H Kawano Kimiko K Kawamura Yoshiaki Y Ito Kenitiro K

PloS one 20140123 1

An increasing number of Shiga toxin 2f-producing Escherichia coli (STEC2f) infections in humans are being reported in Europe, and pigeons have been suggested as a reservoir for the pathogen. In Japan, there is very little information regarding carriage of STEC2f by pigeons, prompting the need for further investigation. We collected 549 samples of pigeon droppings from 14 locations in Kyushu, Japan, to isolate STEC2f and to investigate characteristics of the isolates. Shiga toxin stx 2f gene frag ...[more]

PMID: 24465879

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Project description:Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) can cause severe gastrointestinal disease and colonization among food handlers. In Japan, STEC infection is a notifiable disease, and food handlers are required to undergo routine stool examination for STEC. However, the molecular epidemiology of STEC is not entirely known. We investigated the genomic characteristics of STEC from patients and asymptomatic food handlers in Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. Whole-genome sequencing (WGS) was performed on 65 STEC isolates obtained from 38 patients and 27 food handlers by public health surveillance in Miyagi Prefecture between April 2016 and March 2017. Isolates of O157:H7 ST11 and O26:H11 ST21 were predominant (n = 19, 29%, respectively). Non-O157 isolates accounted for 69% (n = 45) of all isolates. Among 48 isolates with serotypes found in the patients (serotype O157:H7 and 5 non-O157 serotypes, O26:H11, O103:H2, O103:H8, O121:H19 and O145:H28), adhesion genes eae, tir, and espB, and type III secretion system genes espA, espJ, nleA, nleB, and nleC were detected in 41 to 47 isolates (85-98%), whereas isolates with other serotypes found only in food handlers were negative for all of these genes. Non-O157 isolates were especially prevalent among patients younger than 5 years old. Shiga-toxin gene stx1a, adhesion gene efa1, secretion system genes espF and cif, and fimbrial gene lpfA were significantly more frequent among non-O157 isolates from patients than among O157 isolates from patients. The most prevalent resistance genes among our STEC isolates were aminoglycoside resistance genes, followed by sulfamethoxazole/trimethoprim resistance genes. WGS revealed that 20 isolates were divided into 9 indistinguishable core genomes (<5 SNPs), demonstrating clonal expansion of these STEC strains in our region, including an O26:H11 strain with stx1a+stx2a. Non-O157 STEC with multiple virulence genes were prevalent among both patients and food handlers in our region of Japan, highlighting the importance of monitoring the genomic characteristics of STEC.

Dataset Information

Isolation and characteristics of Shiga toxin 2f-producing Escherichia coli among pigeons in Kyushu, Japan.

Publications

Isolation and characteristics of Shiga toxin 2f-producing Escherichia coli among pigeons in Kyushu, Japan.

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