Comparative Pathogenicity of Wildlife and Bovine Escherichia coli O157:H7 Strains in Experimentally Inoculated Neonatal Jersey Calves

Elizabeth M Antaki-Zukoski; Xunde Li; Patricia A Pesavento; Tran H B Nguyen; Bruce R Hoar; Edward R Atwill

doi:10.3390/vetsci5040088

Comparative Pathogenicity of Wildlife and Bovine Escherichia coli O157:H7 Strains in Experimentally Inoculated Neonatal Jersey Calves

Vet Sci. 2018 Oct 15;5(4):88. doi: 10.3390/vetsci5040088.

Authors

Elizabeth M Antaki-Zukoski^{1

2}, Xunde Li^{3

4}, Patricia A Pesavento⁵, Tran H B Nguyen⁶, Bruce R Hoar⁷, Edward R Atwill^{8

9}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Population Health and Reproduction, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA. emantaki@ucdavis.edu.
² Western Institute for Food Safety and Security, University of California, Davis, CA 95618, USA. emantaki@ucdavis.edu.
³ Department of Population Health and Reproduction, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA. xdli@ucdavis.edu.
⁴ Western Institute for Food Safety and Security, University of California, Davis, CA 95618, USA. xdli@ucdavis.edu.
⁵ Department of Pathology, Microbiology, and Immunology, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA. papesavento@ucdavis.edu.
⁶ Department of Population Health and Reproduction, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA. tphnguyen@ucdavis.edu.
⁷ College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY 82071, USA. brucehoar@gmail.com.
⁸ Department of Population Health and Reproduction, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA. ratwill@ucdavis.edu.
⁹ Western Institute for Food Safety and Security, University of California, Davis, CA 95618, USA. ratwill@ucdavis.edu.

Abstract

Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli, like E. coli O157:H7, are important human and animal pathogens. Naturally-acquired E. coli O157:H7 infections occur in numerous species but, particularly, cattle have been identified as a significant reservoir for human cases. E. coli O157:H7 are isolated from a number of domestic and wild animals, including rodents that share a living space with cattle. These Shiga toxin-producing E. coli O157:H7 strains can be highly virulent in humans, but little is known about the sequelae of interspecies transfer. In a group of neonatal calves, we determined the differences in colonization patterns and lesions associated with infection using either a wildlife or bovine E. coli O157:H7 strain. In calves challenged with the wildlife E. coli O157:H7 strain, the large (descending) colon was solely colonized, which differed substantially from the calves inoculated with the bovine E. coli O157:H7 strain, where the spiral colon was the principal target of infection. This study also demonstrated that while both interspecies- and intraspecies-derived E. coli O157:H7 can infect young calves, the distribution and severity differs.

Keywords: Escherichia coli O157:H7; Interspecies transfer; bovine; intraspecies transfer; wildlife.

Grants and funding

U01-003-572/U.S. Food and Drug Administration