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Journal of Clinical Microbiology, May 2001, p. 1845-1849, Vol. 39, No. 5
0095-1137/01/$04.00+0   DOI: 10.1128/JCM.39.5.1845-1849.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Adaptation of Escherichia coli to the Bovine Mammary Gland

A. J. Bradley1,* and M. J. Green2,dagger

Department of Clinical Veterinary Science, University of Bristol, Langford House, Langford, Bristol BS40 5DT,1 and Orchard Veterinary Group, Wirrall Park, Glastonbury, Somerset BA6 9XE,2 England

Received 18 September 2000/Returned for modification 20 February 2001/Accepted 8 March 2001

Clinical mastitis in six Somerset dairy herds was monitored over a 12-month period. Escherichia coli was implicated in 34.7% of all clinical cases. Forty-one percent of all clinical E. coli mastitis cases occurred in just 2.2% of the population. A total of 23.9% of clinical E. coli cases occurred in quarters suffering recurrent cases of E. coli mastitis. The genotypes of strains involved in recurrent cases of clinical E. coli mastitis were compared by DNA fingerprinting with enterobacterial repetitive intergenic consensus primers. In 85.7% of cases of recurrent quarter E. coli mastitis, the same genotype was implicated as the cause of disease, suggesting persistence of the organism within the mammary environment. The same genotype as that in the original case was also implicated in 8.5% of recurrent cases occurring in different quarters of the same cow, suggesting spread between quarters. These findings challenge our current understanding of the epidemiology of E. coli mastitis and suggest that pathogen adaptation and host susceptibility may be playing a part in the changing pattern of clinical mastitis experienced in the modern dairy herd.


* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Clinical Veterinary Science, University of Bristol, Langford House, Langford, Bristol BS40 5DT, England. Phone: 44 117 928 9280. Fax: 44 117 928 9505. E-mail: A.J.Bradley{at}bris.ac.uk.

dagger Present address: Department of Biological Sciences, University of Warwick, Coventry, Warwickshire CV4 7AL, England.


Journal of Clinical Microbiology, May 2001, p. 1845-1849, Vol. 39, No. 5
0095-1137/01/$04.00+0   DOI: 10.1128/JCM.39.5.1845-1849.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.



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