ARS | Publication request: GENETIC DIVERSITY OF ESCHERICHIA COLI O147 STRAINS IMPLICATED IN EDEMA DISEASE

Submitted to: Research Workers in Animal Diseases Conference Proceedings
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: November 13, 2002
Publication Date: N/A

Technical Abstract: Edema disease is an enteric disease of postweaning piglets. Symptoms include diarrhea and weight loss, which can progress to neurological signs and death in about 5-30% of the affected pigs. In the United States, the disease is usually caused by Escherichia coli belonging to serotypes O138, O139, and O141. Recently several outbreaks of edema disease have been caused by E. coli serotype O147. The O147 strains contain virulence genes for F18 fimbriae, heat stable enterotoxin b, Shiga toxin 2e, and heat-stable enterotoxin a (STa). We hypothesized that these strains may have emerged from a common source based on their unusual serotype and the presence of the STa gene. Our goal was to determine if the strains were related to one another (clonal). The strains were compared using antibiotic sensitivity, carbohydrate fermentation, and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). Preliminary results suggest that there is some variation between strains based on carbohydrate fermentation and antibiotic sensitivity patterns. Analysis of chromosomal DNA using PFGE is currently underway.