National Veterinary Research and Quarantine Service, Gyeonggi, 430-824, Republic of Korea.
J Microbiol. 2011 Oct;49(5):747-52. doi: 10.1007/s12275-011-1133-y. Epub 2011 Nov 9.
Escherichia coli has commonly been associated with diarrheal illness in humans and animals. Recently, E. albertii has been reported to be a potential pathogen of humans and animals and to be carried by wild birds. In the present study, the prevalence and genetic characteristics of intimin-producing E. coli and E. albertii strains were evaluated in wild birds in Korea. Thirty one of 790 Enterobacteriaceae strains from healthy wild birds were positive for the intimin gene (eaeA) and twenty two of the 31 strains were identified as atypical enteropathogenic E. coli (aEPEC) that did not possess both EAF and bfpA genes. A total of nine lactose non-fermenting coliform bacterial strains were identified as E. albertii by PCR and sequence analysis of housekeeping genes. A total of 28 (90.3%) eaeA-positive strains were isolated from waterfowl. Fifteen aEPEC (68.2%) and two E. albertii (22.2%) strains had a β-intimin subtype and 14 aEPEC strains harboring β-intimin belonged to phylogenetic group B2. AU eaeA-positive E. albertii and 3 aEPEC strains possessed the cytolethal distending toxin gene (cdtB). The eaeA-positive E. coli and E. albertii strains isolated from healthy wild birds need to be recognized as a potential pathogroup that may pose a potential threat to human and animal health. These findings indicate that eaeA-positive E. coli as well as E. albertii can be carried by wild birds, posing a potential threat to human and animal health.
大肠杆菌通常与人类和动物的腹泻病有关。最近，报道称 E. albertii 是人类和动物的潜在病原体，并存在于野生鸟类中。本研究评估了韩国野生鸟类中产侵袭素大肠杆菌和 E. albertii 菌株的流行情况和遗传特征。790 株肠道杆菌菌株中，有 31 株携带 intimin 基因（eaeA），其中 22 株为不携带 EAF 和 bfpA 基因的非典型肠致病性大肠杆菌（aEPEC）。通过 PCR 和看家基因序列分析，共鉴定出 9 株乳糖非发酵性大肠埃希菌为 E. albertii。28 株（90.3%）eaeA 阳性菌株分离自水禽。15 株 aEPEC（68.2%）和 2 株 E. albertii（22.2%）菌株具有β-侵袭素亚型，14 株携带β-侵袭素的 aEPEC 菌株属于 B2 型进化群。1 株 eaeA 阳性 E. albertii 和 3 株 aEPEC 菌株携带细胞毒性扩张毒素基因（cdtB）。从健康野生鸟类中分离出的 eaeA 阳性大肠杆菌和 E. albertii 菌株需要被视为一个潜在的病原群，可能对人类和动物健康构成威胁。这些发现表明，携带 eaeA 的大肠杆菌和 E. albertii 可被野生鸟类携带，对人类和动物健康构成潜在威胁。
