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Title: FECAL SHEDDING OF SHIGA-TOXIGENIC E. COLI (STEC) O157 BY LIVESTOCK AT AGRICULTURAL FAIRS IN THE UNITED STATES

Author
item Keen, James
item WITTUM, THOMAS - OHIO STATE UNIV.
item DUNN, JOHN - LOUISIANA STATE UNIV
item Bono, James - Jim
item HANSEN, GLENN - OHIO STATE UNIV
item FONTENOT, MARY - LOUISIANA STATE UNIV

Submitted to: Research Workers in Animal Diseases Conference Proceedings
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/6/2003
Publication Date: 11/9/2003
Citation: KEEN, J.E., WITTUM, T.E., DUNN, J.R., BONO, J.L., HANSEN, G.E., FONTENOT, M.E. FECAL SHEDDING OF SHIGA-TOXIGENIC E. COLI (STEC) O157 BY LIVESTOCK AT AGRICULTURAL FAIRS IN THE UNITED STATES. RESEARCH WORKERS IN ANIMAL DISEASES CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS. 2003. ABSTRACT NO. 62.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Agricultural fairs attract millions of visitors annually and represent the only contact that much of the general public has with livestock. Since 1998, at least 6 human outbreaks of STEC O157 in the US have been linked with visits to county fairs exhibiting livestock. These outbreaks have caused thousands of illnesses, dozens of cases of renal failure, and at least two deaths, and were associated with contaminated water supplies, direct contact with ruminants, or with visits to livestock barns. In order to estimate the unknown STEC O157 prevalence in agricultural fair animals, we visited 29 county fairs in 2 states and 3 state fairs in summer 2002. We collected 2914 freshly ground-deposited fecal samples from 1407 beef and dairy cattle, 1102 pigs, 251 sheep, 108 goats, and 46 other livestock (poultry, rabbits, equids, and llamas). We also live trapped 154 pest fly pools (blow flies, stable flies, and house flies; approximately 8000 individual flies) at 19 county fairs and 2 of the state fairs. Samples were collected while the fairs were open to the public. STEC O157 were recovered from livestock at all 32 fairs and from 8% of the 3068 samples collected. Prevalence rates by species were: cattle, 12.6%; pigs, 3.6%; sheep, 5.2%; goats, 2.8%; other fair animals, 0%; and pest fly pools, 7.1%. These results suggest that fair livestock frequently shed STEC O157 at rates similar to those found in commercial summer-reared livestock, even though the husbandry, management, health, and especially the hygiene of fair livestock may be quite different from commercially-reared livestock.