Prevalence of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli isolated from chicken meat in west of Iran
Abstract Objective: Shiga toxin producing Escherichia coli (STEC) has known as a crucial zoonotic food borne pathogen. A total of 257 row chicken meat samples were collected from different markets in Hamadan city from January 2016 to May 2017. Samples were cultured on selective and differential culture media, and the virulence genes of E. coli isolates were analyzed by PCR assay. The antibiotic resistance patterns of E. coli isolates were determined by disk diffusion method. The genetic relatedness of STEC isolates were analyzed by ERIC-PCR. Results: Totally, 93(36%) of isolates were identified as E. coli in this current study. According serological and microbiological tests, 5(5.3%), 31(33.3%) and 7(7.5%) of E. coli isolates, characterized as Enterohemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC), STEC and attaching and effacing E. coli (AEEC) strains, respectively. High level resistance to tetracycline (89.8), ampicillin (82.8%) and sulfametoxazole-trimotoprime (71%) were detected among E. coli isolates. Analysis of ERIC-PCR results showed five different ERIC types among EHEC isolates. Based on our findings, chicken meat identified as a sources of STEC strains, therefore, the controlling and checkup the chicken meats for the resistance and virulent strains of E. coli should be consider as a crucial issues in public health.