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Journal of Clinical Microbiology, March 1999, p. 778-781, Vol. 37, No. 3
0095-1137/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Clonal Diversity of Chilean Isolates of
Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli from Patients with
Hemolytic-Uremic Syndrome, Asymptomatic Subjects, Animal
Reservoirs, and Food Products
Maritza
Rios,1
Valeria
Prado,1,*
Michele
Trucksis,2
Carolina
Arellano,1
Consuelo
Borie,3
Marcela
Alexandre,4
Alberto
Fica,1 and
Myron M.
Levine2
Programa de Microbiología y
Micología, Instituto de Ciencias Biomédicas, Facultad de
Medicina, Universidad de Chile,1
Laboratorio de Microbiología, Departamento de Medicina
Preventiva Animal, Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias y Pecuarias,
Universidad de Chile,3 and
Servicio de
Salud Metropolitano del Ambiente,4 Santiago,
Chile, and
Center for Vaccine Development, University of
Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland
212012
Received 8 June 1998/Returned for modification 24 July
1998/Accepted 21 October 1998
To determine clonal relationship among Chilean enterohemorrhagic
Escherichia coli (EHEC) strains from different sources
(clinical infections, animal reservoirs, and food), 54 EHEC isolates
(44 of E. coli O157, 5 of E. coli O111, and 5 of E. coli O26) were characterized for virulence genes by
colony blot hybridization and by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis
(PFGE). By colony blotting, 12 different genotypes were identified
among the 44 E. coli O157 isolates analyzed, of which the
genetic profile stx1+
stx2+ hly+
eae+ was the most prevalent. All human O157 strains
that were associated with sporadic cases of hemolytic-uremic syndrome
(HUS) carried both the stx1 and
stx2 toxin-encoding genes and were
eaeA positive. Only 9 of 13 isolates from human controls
were stx1+
stx2+, and 8 carried the
eaeA gene. Comparison of profiles obtained by PFGE of
XbaI-digested genomic DNA showed a great diversity among
the E. coli O157 isolates, with 37 different profiles among 39 isolates analyzed. Cluster analysis of PFGE profiles showed a wide
distribution of clinical isolates obtained from HUS cases and
asymptomatic individuals and a clonal relationship among O157 isolates
obtained from HUS cases and pigs. Analysis of virulence genes showed
that a correlation exists among strains with the genotype
stx1+
stx2+ eae+
and pathogenic potential. A larger difference in the PFGE restriction patterns was observed among the EHEC strains of serogroups O26 and
O111. These results indicate that several different EHEC clones circulate in Chile and suggest that pigs are an important animal reservoir for human infections by EHEC. Guidelines have been proposed for better practices in the slaughter of animals in Chile.
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Programa
Microbiología y Micología, ICBM, Facultad
Medicina-Oriente, Universidad de Chile, Avenida Condell 303, Santiago,
Chile. Phone or Fax: 562-2045460. E-mail:
vprado{at}machi.med.uchile.cl.
Journal of Clinical Microbiology, March 1999, p. 778-781, Vol. 37, No. 3
0095-1137/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
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