Aim: Participants in an unorganized gathering are potential hosts of diseases, bringing diseases from around the world to be introduced to a large at-risk population. Therefore, we investigated the gene repertoire in 29 Escherichia coli strains linked to urinary tract infection isolated from patients transferred to the hospital after attending an unorganized gathering in Cairo.
Materials & methods: Virulence and resistance determinants, phenotypic antibiotic resistance, biofilm formation, their serotypes and phylogenetic relationships were analyzed.
Results: The 29 tested serovars were phenotypically virulent, with the prevalence of group B2, and resistant to tetracycline, naldixic acid, ampicillin, trimethoprim, neomycin, oxytetracycline and erythromycin encoding the iss virulent gene.
Conclusion: A One Health approach is a must to monitor and control E. coli urinary tract infections.
Keywords: Egypt; Escherichia coli; UTI; antibiotic resistance genes; biofilm; virulence genes.