Identification of Shigatoxigenic and Enteropathogenic <i>Escherichia coli</i> Serotypes in Healthy Young Dairy Calves in Belgium by Recto-Anal Mucosal Swabbing

• Main Authors: Audrey Habets, Frederik Engelen, Jean-Noël Duprez, Brecht Devleesschauwer, Marc Heyndrickx, Lieven De Zutter, Damien Thiry, Eric Cox, Jacques Mainil
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2020-10-01
• Series: Veterinary Sciences
• Subjects: <i>Escherichia coli</i>; EPEC; STEC; dairy calves; recto-anal mucosal swab; Belgium
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2306-7381/7/4/167

Enterohemorrhagic <i>Escherichia coli</i> (EHEC), enteropathogenic <i>E. coli</i> (EPEC), and Shigatoxigenic <i>E. coli</i> (STEC) are carried by healthy adult cattle and even more frequently by young calves in their intestinal tract, especially at the height of the recto-anal junction. The purpose of the present study was to assess the presence of ten EHEC, EPEC, and/or STEC O serotypes (O5, O26, O80, O103, O111, O118, O121, O145, O157, and O165) in calves sampled via recto-anal mucosal swabs (RAMS) at three dairy farms in Belgium. A total of 233 RAMS were collected on three consecutive occasions from healthy <6-month-old Holstein-Friesian calves and submitted to a PCR targeting the <i>eae</i>, <i>stx1</i>, and <i>stx2</i> genes after non-selective overnight enrichment growth. The 148 RAMS testing positive were streaked on four (semi-)selective agar media; of the 2146 colonies tested, 294 from 69 RAMS were PCR-confirmed as EHEC, EPEC, or STEC. The most frequent virulotype was <i>eae</i>+ EPEC and the second one was <i>stx1</i>+ <i>stx2</i>+ STEC, while the <i>eae</i>+ <i>stx1</i>+ and <i>eae</i>+ <i>stx1</i>+ <i>stx2</i>+ virulotypes were the most frequent among EHEC. The majority of EHEC (73%) tested positive for one of the five O serotypes detected (O26, O103, O111, O145, or O157) vs. 23% of EPEC and 45% of STEC. Similarly, more RAMS (73%) harbored EHEC isolates positive for those five serotypes compared to EPEC (53%) or STEC (52%). This survey confirms that (i) healthy young dairy calves are asymptomatic carriers of EHEC and EPEC in Belgium; (ii) the carrier state rates, the virulotypes, and the identified O serotypes differ between farms and in time; and (iii) a majority of EPEC belong to so far unidentified O serotypes.