AUTHOR=Blanco Crivelli Ximena , Bonino María P. , Von Wernich Castillo Paula , Navarro Armando , Degregorio Osvaldo , Bentancor Adriana 

TITLE=Detection and Characterization of Enteropathogenic and Shiga Toxin-Producing Escherichia coli Strains in Rattus spp. from Buenos Aires

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Microbiology

VOLUME=9

YEAR=2018

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2018.00199

DOI=10.3389/fmicb.2018.00199

ISSN=1664-302X

ABSTRACT=<p>Enteropathogenic <italic>Escherichia coli</italic> (EPEC) and Shiga toxin-producing <italic>E. coli</italic> (STEC) are pathovars of <italic>E. coli</italic> that impact human health by causing childhood diseases. In this work, 118 synanthropic rodents of the genus <italic>Rattus</italic> from Buenos Aires, Argentina were evaluated as EPEC and STEC carriers. Rectal swab samples from captured animals were evaluated by conventional PCR to detect the presence of the <italic>eae</italic>, <italic>stx</italic>1, <italic>stx</italic>2, and <italic>rfb</italic>O157 genes. Twenty-one isolates were obtained (17 EPEC isolates from seven animals and four STEC isolates from the same animal). All EPEC isolates tested negative for the presence of the <italic>bfpA</italic> gene. One EPEC isolate carried the <italic>iha</italic> gene, and five EPEC isolates carried the <italic>tox</italic>B gene. STEC isolates exhibited two different virulence profiles: <italic>stx</italic>1a/<italic>stx</italic>2a/<italic>stx</italic>2c/<italic>stx</italic>2d/<italic>saa</italic>/<italic>ehx</italic>A/<italic>sub</italic>A (3/4) and <italic>stx</italic>1a/<italic>stx</italic>2a/<italic>saa</italic>/<italic>ehx</italic>A/<italic>sub</italic>A (1/4). EPEC isolate serotypes included O109:H46 (7), O71:H40 (4), O71:NM (2), O138:H40 (1), O108:H21 (1), O88:H25 (1), and O76:NM (1), and STEC isolates belonged to the O108:H11 (4) serotype. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing was carried out, and resistance to tetracycline was observed in one EPEC strain. Our results demonstrate that <italic>Rattus</italic> spp. may act as carriers of EPEC and STEC strains and may be involved in the epidemiology of diarrheal disease in infancy.</p>