DETECTION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF VEROTOXIN‐PRODUCINGESCHERICHIA COLI(VTEC) ISOLATED FROM BUFFALO MEAT

Abstract
The emergence of Verotoxin‐producingEscherichia coli(VTEC) as zoonotic foodborne pathogens in recent years has become a public health concern because of its life threatening human diseases. In the present investigation, out of 87 strains ofE. coli, 22 (25%) belonging to 13 different serotypes isolated from raw buffalo meat and its products were found to be verotoxic as tested by Vero cell cytotoxic assay. Serotype O26 followed by O153 and O157 were the predominant VTEC. All the VTEC strains were found positive forvtgenes by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Among thevtgenotypes,vt2(77%) was most predominant followed byvt1(14%) and bothvt1andvt2(9%). Production of enterohaemolysin on washed sheep blood agar supplemented with CaCl2showed 19 (86%) VTEC strains to be positive. Presence of VTEC in cooked buffalo meat products, namely shami kabab and kabab, appears to be a matter of concern and a potential threat to public health. VTEC detection by different methods suggests that PCR can be useful to evaluate the distribution of virulence genes (vt1orvt2or both) inE. coliisolates from buffalo meat and its products.

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