文摘
Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) and shiga toxin E. coli (STEC) are important causes of colibacillosis in piglets. Recently, enteroaggregative E. coli heat-stable enterotoxin 1 (EAST-1) has been implicated in pig diarrhoea. This study investigated the prevalence of enterotoxin [heat-labile toxins (LT), heat-stable toxin a (STa), heat-stable toxin b (STb)], shiga toxins (Stx1, Stx2, Stx2e), enteroaggregative heat-stable E. coli (EAST-1), associated fimbriae (F4, F5, F6, F41, F18ab, F18ac) and non-fimbrial adhesins [adhesin involved in diffuse adherence 1 (AIDA-1), attaching and effacing factor, porcine attaching- and effacing-associated factor] in South African pigs. A total of 263 E. coli strains were isolated from Landrace (n--4), Large White (n--26), Duroc (n--8) and indigenous (n--5) breeds of piglets aged between 9 and 136?days. PCR was used in the analysis. Virulent genes were detected in 40.3?% of the isolates, of which 18.6, 0.4 and 17.5?% were classified as ETEC, STEC and enteroaggregative E. coli (EAEC), respectively. Individual genes were found in the following proportions: STb (19.01?%), LT (0.4?%), STa (3.4?%), St2xe (1.1?%) and EAST-1 (20.2?%) toxins. None of the tested fimbriae were detected in ETEC and STEC isolates. About one third of the ETEC and STEC isolates was tested negative for both fimbrial and non-fimbrial adhesins. Twenty-five pathotypes from ETEC-, EAEC- and STEC-positive strains were identified. Pathotypes EAST-1 (30.2?%), STb (13.2?%) and STb/AIDA-1 (10.4?%) were most prevalent. The study provided insight on possible causes of colibacillosis in South African pigs.