IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jagris/v14y2024i9p1537-d1472452.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Genetic Diversity and Zoonotic Potential of Shiga Toxin-Producing E. coli (STEC) in Cattle and Buffaloes from Islamabad, Pakistan

Author

Listed:
  • Hamid Irshad

    (Animal Health Program, Animal Sciences Institute, National Agricultural Research Centre, Park Road, Islamabad 45500, Pakistan)

  • Aitezaz Ahsan

    (Animal Health Program, Animal Sciences Institute, National Agricultural Research Centre, Park Road, Islamabad 45500, Pakistan)

  • Arfan Yousaf

    (Faculty of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Pir Mehr Ali Shah Arid Agriculture University, Rawalpindi 46000, Pakistan)

  • Naowarat Kanchanakhan

    (College of Public Health Sciences, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok 10330, Thailand)

  • Tepanata Pumpaibool

    (College of Public Health Sciences, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok 10330, Thailand)

  • Wattasit Siriwong

    (College of Public Health Sciences, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok 10330, Thailand)

  • Pinidphon Prombutara

    (Omics Sciences and Bioinformatics Centre, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok 10330, Thailand)

  • Ibrar Ahmed

    (Alpha Genomics Private Limited, Islamabad 45710, Pakistan
    Microbiological Analysis Team, Group for Biometrology, Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science (KRISS), Daejeon 34113, Republic of Korea)

  • Zarrin Basharat

    (Alpha Genomics Private Limited, Islamabad 45710, Pakistan)

  • Mudussar Nawaz

    (Faculty of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Pir Mehr Ali Shah Arid Agriculture University, Rawalpindi 46000, Pakistan)

  • Abdullah

    (State Key Laboratory of Chinese Medicine Modernization, Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianjin 301617, China
    Haihe Laboratory of Modern Chinese Medicine, Tianjin 301617, China)

  • Humaira Amin

    (Alpha Genomics Private Limited, Islamabad 45710, Pakistan
    Department of Genomics and Bioinformatics, Cholistan University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Bahawalpur 63100, Pakistan)

  • Audrey D. Thevenon

    (National Academies of Sciences, Washington, DC 20001, USA)

  • Muhammad Ijaz Khan

    (Livestock and Dairy Development Department, Muzaffarabad 13100, Pakistan)

  • Muhammad Usman Zaheer

    (Animal Population Health Institute, Department of Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary, Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA
    Animal Health and Production Module, Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Bangkok 10200, Thailand)

  • Sangeeta Rao

    (Animal Population Health Institute, Department of Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary, Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA)

  • Mo Salman

    (Animal Population Health Institute, Department of Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary, Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA)

Abstract

Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) are considered important zoonotic pathogens of great economic significance, associated with diarrhea, hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), hemorrhagic colitis (HC), and death in humans. This study aimed to investigate the distribution of various STEC virulence gene markers and antimicrobial susceptibility (AST) profiles associated within E. coli isolates from the recto-anal mucosal swabs (RAMSs) of slaughtered cattle and buffaloes in Islamabad, Pakistan. The RAMSs ( n = 200) were analyzed using multiplex PCR for the presence of stx1 , stx2 , eae , and ehxA genes. Samples that were positive for one or more of the virulence genes were inoculated with Sorbitol MacConkey agar (SMAC) for isolation of STEC. The isolates were further analyzed for the presence of virulence genes using multiplex PCR. Of the 200 RAMS, 118 (59%) were positive for one or more virulence genes. E. coli isolates ( n = 18) with one or more virulence genes were recovered from the 118 positive samples. The DNA of the isolates positive for one or more virulent genes was extracted and subjected to whole genome sequencing using Illumina. Analysis of the WGS data indicated that the E. coli isolates could be differentiated into 11 serotypes. Most E. coli isolates (13/18; 72.2%) carried five genes ( stx1 , stx2 , Iha , iss , and IpfA ) in various combinations. In addition to these five genes, other virulence genes identified in these isolates were espI , ireA , espP , exhA , epeA , mcmA , mch , ast , celB , eilA , katP , and capU . The AST was performed using the Kirby–Bauer disk diffusion test. The study indicated that all the isolates were resistant to rifampicin and a significant proportion of the isolates were MDR. A wide range of antimicrobial resistance genes (ARGs) were detected among the isolates, reflecting the complex nature of resistance mechanisms. The study results indicate that cattle and buffaloes slaughtered in Islamabad might be the carriers of antimicrobial resistant STEC of zoonotic significance, thus representing a source of human infection.

Suggested Citation

  • Hamid Irshad & Aitezaz Ahsan & Arfan Yousaf & Naowarat Kanchanakhan & Tepanata Pumpaibool & Wattasit Siriwong & Pinidphon Prombutara & Ibrar Ahmed & Zarrin Basharat & Mudussar Nawaz & Abdullah & Humai, 2024. "Genetic Diversity and Zoonotic Potential of Shiga Toxin-Producing E. coli (STEC) in Cattle and Buffaloes from Islamabad, Pakistan," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-19, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jagris:v:14:y:2024:i:9:p:1537-:d:1472452
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/14/9/1537/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/14/9/1537/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jagris:v:14:y:2024:i:9:p:1537-:d:1472452. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.