Research Journal for Veterinary Practitioners

Research Article
Res. j. vet. pract. 4 (1): 1 - 6
http://dx.doi.org/10.14737/journal.rjvp/2016/4.1.1.6
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Mustafa Salah Hasan1, Afaf Abdulrahman Yousif1*, Mohammad Jweid Alwan2

1Department of Internal and Preventive Veterinary Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine; 2Department of Pathology and Poultry Disease, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Baghdad, Iraq.

*Correspondence | Afaf Abdulrahman Yousif, University of Baghdad, Iraq; Email: afaf_a.rahman@yahoo.com

Abstract
E. coli O157:H7 is considered as an important pathogen of diarrhea in adult dogs and puppies. The presented study aimed to isolate E. coli O157:H7 serotypes from dogs and puppies and to detection of the stx1, stx2 and eaeA virulence genes in these strains using conventional PCR assay. One hundred and four fecal swab samples were collected from dogs and puppies with different ages, breeds and sex. After primary cultivation of the collected samples onto MacConkey’s and EMB agar media, the suspected E. coli colonies were subcultured onto CHROM and CT-SMAC agar media. The non sorbitol fermenter E. coli were serotyped using latex agglutination test for detection of O157 and H7 antigens. The results of latex test revealed 18 E. coli O157:H7 isolates. From 16 diarrheic animals, 11 (68.75%) were positive for E. coli O157:H7; 8 (72.72%) from puppies and 3 (60%) from adults. Meanwhile, 7 E. coli O157:H7 isolates were recovered from 88 non diarrheic animals (7.95 %); 4 (9.52%) from puppies and 3 (6.52%) from adults. The 18 isolates of E. coli O157:H7 were conducted to PCR assay, the results showed that 6 (33.33%) and 1(5.55%) E. coli isolates had stx1 and eaeA genes, respectively. The results also showed that three isolates (16.66%) had all the investigated genes, three isolates (16.66%) had Stx1 and eaeA genes, one isolate (5.55%) had Stx2 and eaeA genes, while four (22.22%) isolates were negative for these virulence genes. In conclusion, we may suggest that dogs and puppies can be regarded as important reservoirs for E. coli O157:H7 which is one of the main causes of diarrhea and other diseases in human.

Keywords | Diarrhea, E. coli O157:H7, PCR, Stx1, Stx2 and eaeA

Editor | Muhammad Abubakar, National Veterinary Laboratories, Islamabad, Pakistan.

Received | September 10, 2015; Revised | October 05, 2015; Accepted | October 10, 2015; Published | January 13, 2016

Citation | Hasan MS, Yousif AA, Alwan MJ (2016). Detection of virulent genes in E. coli O157:H7 isolated from puppies and adult dogs by polymerase chain reaction. Res. J. Vet. Pract. 4(1): 1-6.

ISSN | 2308-2798

Copyright © 2016 Hasan et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.