The Prevalence of Verocytotoxigenic Escherichia Coli 0157: H7 in Dung of Cattle

Abstract

Studies were made on cattle from four different private slaughterhouses located in the center of Afyonkarahisar Province in Turkey. The presence of E. coli O 157:H7 in the dung samples from 300 cattle collected under aseptic conditions after slaughter was determined by of the Immuno Magnetic Separation (IMS) method. Verotoxin 1 (VT1) and 2 (VT2) production of the isolated E. coli 0157:H7 strains were also confirmed using Glisa Duopath Verotoxin test kit. Four (1.33%) of the 300 dung samples from cattle collected from 4 different slaughterhouses were positive for E. colli O 157:H7.