Strains of Escherichia coli associated with urogenital disease in dogs and cats.

Selected strains of Escherichia coli associated with urogenital disease in dogs and cats were evaluated for 3 virulence factors associated with human uropathogenic strains. Urogenital strains of E coli from dogs and cats had high prevalence of alpha hemolysin and were clustered in 5 to 10 somatic serogroups, attributes also shared by human uropathogenic strains. However, the canine and feline urogenital strains failed to have increased prevalence of mannose-resistant hemagglutination, as has been reported for human uropathogenic strains.