Lorusso Vanessa, Dambrosio Angela, Quaglia Nicoletta Cristiana, Parisi Antonio, La Salandra Giovanna, Lucifora Giuseppe, Mula Giuseppina, Virgilio Sebastiano, Carosielli Leonardo, Rella Addolorata, Dario Marco, Normanno Giovanni
Department of Health and Animal Welfare--Faculty of Veterinary Medicine Str. Prov. Per Casamassima Km 3, 70010 Valenzano, Italy.;
J Food Prot. 2009 Aug;72(8):1705-8. doi: 10.4315/0362-028x-72.8.1705.
Escherichia coli 026 is known as a verocytotoxin-producing E. coli (VTEC) organism that causes severe foodborne diseases such as hemorrhagic colitis and hemolytic uremic syndrome. Although cattle are the most important reservoir of VTEC, only a few reports on the role of water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) as a reservoir of VTEC and on the presence of these organisms in their milk are available. However, in Southern Italy, where water buffalo are intensively reared, an outbreak of hemolytic uremic syndrome due to E. coli 026 has recently been reported, in which the consumption of typical dairy products was considered to be a common risk factor. The aims of this work were to assess the prevalence of E. coli O26 in raw water buffalo milk, to characterize the virulence gene profiles of the isolates, and to evaluate their phenotypic antimicrobial resistance pattern. Of 160 analyzed samples, 1 (0.6%) tested positive for E. coli O26, and the isolate showed the stx1+/stx2+/eae-/hlyA+ genotypic profile. The strain showed resistance against glycopeptides, macrolides, and penicillins. The presence of VTEC organisms in raw water buffalo milk could be considered to be a potential threat to consumers; however, the strict adherence to the processes used in the preparation of the most common buffalo dairy products could strongly mitigate the foodborne risk. To our knowledge, this article reports the first isolation and characterization of E. coli O26 VTEC in raw water buffalo milk.
大肠杆菌O26是一种产志贺毒素大肠杆菌（VTEC），可引发严重的食源性疾病，如出血性结肠炎和溶血性尿毒症综合征。尽管牛是VTEC最重要的宿主，但关于水牛作为VTEC宿主的作用以及这些微生物在其牛奶中的存在情况的报道却很少。然而，在意大利南部，水牛养殖密集，最近有报道称发生了一起由大肠杆菌O26引起的溶血性尿毒症综合征疫情，其中典型乳制品的消费被认为是一个常见的风险因素。这项工作的目的是评估生水牛乳中大肠杆菌O26的流行情况，鉴定分离株的毒力基因谱，并评估它们的表型抗菌耐药模式。在160份分析样本中，1份（0.6%）检测出大肠杆菌O26呈阳性，该分离株显示出stx1+/stx2+/eae-/hlyA+基因型谱。该菌株对糖肽类、大环内酯类和青霉素类药物耐药。生水牛乳中存在VTEC微生物可能被认为是对消费者的潜在威胁；然而，严格遵守最常见水牛乳制品制备过程中所使用的流程可以极大地降低食源性风险。据我们所知，本文首次报道了生水牛乳中大肠杆菌O26 VTEC的分离和鉴定。
