RT Journal Article
T1 Serotypes, virulence genes and intimin types of Shiga toxin (verocytotoxin)-producing Escherichia coli isolates from minced beef in Lugo (Spain) from 1995 through 2003
A1 Mora Gutiérrez, Azucena
A1 Blanco Álvarez, Miguel
A1 Blanco Álvarez, Jesús Eulogio
A1 Dahbi, Ghizlane
A1 López Capón, Cecilia
A1 Justel, Paula
A1 Alonso, María Pilar
A1 Echeita, Aurora
A1 Bernárdez Hermida, Isabel
A1 González García, Enrique Antonio
A1 Blanco Álvarez, Jorge
K1 Cefixime
K1 Most Probable Number
K1 Phage Type
K1 Haemolytic Uraemic Syndrome
K1 Shiga Toxin
AB BackgroundShiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) have emerged as pathogens that can cause food-borne infections and severe and potentially fatal illnesses in humans, such as haemorrhagic colitis (HC) and haemolytic uraemic syndrome (HUS). In Spain, like in many other countries, STEC strains have been frequently isolated from ruminants, and represent a significant cause of sporadic cases of human infection. In view of the lack of data on STEC isolated from food in Spain, the objectives of this study were to determine the level of microbiological contamination and the prevalence of STEC O157:H7 and non-O157 in a large sampling of minced beef collected from 30 local stores in Lugo city between 1995 and 2003. Also to establish if those STEC isolated from food possessed the same virulence profiles as STEC strains causing human infections.ResultsSTEC were detected in 95 (12%) of the 785 minced beef samples tested. STEC O157:H7 was isolated from eight (1.0%) samples and non-O157 STEC from 90 (11%) samples. Ninety-six STEC isolates were further characterized by PCR and serotyping. PCR showed that 28 (29%) isolates carried stx1 genes, 49 (51%) possessed stx2 genes, and 19 (20%) both stx1 and stx2. Enterohemolysin (ehxA) and intimin (eae) virulence genes were detected in 43 (45%) and in 25 (26%) of the isolates, respectively. Typing of the eae variants detected four types: γ1 (nine isolates), β1 (eight isolates), ε1 (three isolates), and θ (two isolates). The majority (68%) of STEC isolates belonged to serotypes previously detected in human STEC and 38% to serotypes associated with STEC isolated from patients with HUS. Ten new serotypes not previously described in raw beef products were also detected. The highly virulent seropathotypes O26:H11 stx1 eae-β1, O157:H7 stx1stx2 eae-γ1 and O157:H7 stx2eae-γ1, which are the most frequently observed among STEC causing human infections in Spain, were detected in 10 of the 96 STEC isolates. Furthermore, phage typing of STEC O157:H7 isolates showed that the majority (seven of eight isolates) belonged to the main phage types previously detected in STEC O157:H7 strains associated with severe human illnesses.ConclusionThe results of this study do not differ greatly from those reported in other countries with regard to prevalence of O157 and non-O157 STEC in minced beef. As we suspected, serotypes different from O157:H7 also play an important role in food contamination in Spain, including the highly virulent seropathotype O26:H11 stx1 eae-β1. Thus, our data confirm minced beef in the city of Lugo as vehicles of highly pathogenic STEC. This requires that control measures to be introduced and implemented to increase the safety of minced beef.
PB BMC
SN 1471-2180
YR 2007
FD 2007
LK http://hdl.handle.net/10347/22740
UL http://hdl.handle.net/10347/22740
LA eng
NO Mora, A., Blanco, M., Blanco, J.E. et al. Serotypes, virulence genes and intimin types of Shiga toxin (verocytotoxin)-producing Escherichia coli isolates from minced beef in Lugo (Spain) from 1995 through 2003. BMC Microbiol 7, 13 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2180-7-13
NO This work was supported by grants from the Fondo de Investigación Sanitaria (grants FIS G03-025-COLIRED-O157 and PI052023), from the Xunta de Galicia (grants PGIDIT02BTF26101PR, PGIDIT04RAG261014PR, PGIDIT05BTF26101PR, and PGIDIT065TAL26101PR), from the Comisión Interministerial de Ciencia y Tecnología (grants CICYT-ALI98-0616 and CICYT-FEDER-1FD1997-2181-C02-01), and from European Commission (FAIR programme grants CT98-4093 and CT98-3935). A. Mora, G. Dahbi and C. López acknowledge the Agencia Española de Cooperación Internacional (AECI) and the Xunta de Galicia for research fellowships
DS Minerva
RD 28 abr 2026