Division of Veterinary Microbiology and Immunology, Sher e Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology, R S Pura, Jammu-181 102, Jammu and Kashmir.
*E-mail address: drlatima@gmail.com.
Shiga toxigenic Escherichia coli (STEC) are commonly found in faeces of food animals and pose threat to human and livestock. The prevalence and characterization of STEC on the basis of virulence genes from lambs with and without diarrhea was studied. A total of 50 E. coli isolates belonging to 13 different serogroups were isolated from 40 diarrhoeic and 31 healthy lambs. All the isolates were screened for the presence of stx1, stx2, eae and hlyA genes using multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR). A total of 15 (30%) (9 diarrhoeic and 6 healthy) E. coli strains were designated as Shiga toxigenic E. coli. Among 15 STEC isoltes, 26.7%, 20%, 46.7% and 80% were found to harbour stx1, stx2, eae and hlyA genes respectively. All STEC were further characterized by the production of turbid zones of hemolysis on Soyabean casein digest agar supplemented with 5% sheep erythrocytes and 10 mM CaCl2.
Molecular characterization, Multiplex PCR, Sheep, STEC
