Saidenberg André Becker Simões, van Vliet Arnoud H M, Brandão Paulo Eduardo, de Sá Lilian Rose Marques, Cunha Marcos Paulo Vieira, La Ragione Roberto M, Knöbl Terezinha
School of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
Department of Pathology and Infectious Diseases, School of Veterinary Medicine, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Surrey, Guildford, Surrey, UK.
Vet Q. 2020 Dec;40(1):331-341. doi: 10.1080/01652176.2020.1845916.
Enteropathogenic (EPEC) constitutes one of the main causes of mortality in children in low- to medium-income countries. Diverse animal species have been linked as reservoirs, including birds. The aim of this study was to describe the genomic and phylogenetic features of an EPEC recovered from a pet macaw and further characterizing the macro and microscopic lesion in a rabbit ileal loop experimental model. The isolate was whole-genome sequenced (WGS) obtaining its genotypic and phenotypic characteristics and inoculated in a rabbit experimental model with subsequently evaluating the strain's pathogenicity by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and histopathology. The isolate was characterized as O109:H21-B1-ST40 typical EPEC, harboring several virulence factors of diarrheagenic . The macaw EPEC genome was located in a monophyletic clade of human and animal ST40 EPEC sequences. inoculation demonstrated severe hemorrhage with SEM and histopathological analysis confirming these lesions to be associated with intra-epithelial lymphocytes. Therefore, the isolate not only shared several genotypic and phylogenetic similarities with EPEC that affects humans and animals, but was able to induce severe tissue injury in a mammal model. These findings highlight the underrated role of pet birds as zoonotic reservoirs and the diversity in virulence factors being unraveled by new WGS studies.
肠致病性大肠杆菌（EPEC）是中低收入国家儿童死亡的主要原因之一。多种动物物种被认为是其宿主，包括鸟类。本研究的目的是描述从一只宠物金刚鹦鹉分离出的EPEC的基因组和系统发育特征，并在兔回肠袢实验模型中进一步表征宏观和微观病变。对该分离株进行全基因组测序（WGS）以获得其基因型和表型特征，并接种到兔实验模型中，随后通过扫描电子显微镜（SEM）和组织病理学评估该菌株的致病性。该分离株被鉴定为O109:H21-B1-ST40典型EPEC，携带多种致泻毒力因子。金刚鹦鹉EPEC基因组位于人和动物ST40 EPEC序列的一个单系分支中。接种实验显示严重出血，SEM和组织病理学分析证实这些病变与上皮内淋巴细胞有关。因此，该分离株不仅与感染人和动物的EPEC有一些基因型和系统发育上的相似性，而且能够在哺乳动物模型中诱导严重的组织损伤。这些发现突出了宠物鸟作为人畜共患病宿主的被低估的作用，以及新的WGS研究揭示的毒力因子的多样性。
