Acta Veterinaria et Zootechnica Sinica ›› 2023, Vol. 54 ›› Issue (8): 3445-3454.doi: 10.11843/j.issn.0366-6964.2023.08.029

• PREVENTIVE VETERINARY MEDICINE • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Isolation, Identification, Virulence Genes and Drug Resistance Analysis of Escherichia coli Isolated from Diarrheal Goat and Sheep

LIU Xinhuan1,2, YUN Jialei2,3, MAO Li2, LI Jizong2, HAO Fei2, HE Miaofeng1,2, YANG Leilei2, ZHANG Wenwen2, CHENG Zilong2, SUN Min2, LIU Maojun1,2,3,5, WANG Shaohui4, BAI Juan1, LI Wenliang1,2,3,4,5*   

  1. 1. College of Veterinary Medicine, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China;
    2. Institute of Veterinary Medicine, Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences/Key Laboratory of Engineering and Technology for Veterinary Biological Products, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Nanjing 210014, China;
    3. School of Food and Bioengineering, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang 212013, China;
    4. Shanghai Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Shanghai 200241, China;
    5. Guotai (Taizhou) Center of Technology Innovation for Veterinary Biologicals, Taizhou 225300, China
  • Received:2022-12-14 Online:2023-08-23 Published:2023-08-22

Abstract: In order to determine the infection situation of Escherichia coli (E.coli), virulence genes and drug resistance of the E.coli strains in goat and sheep farms with diarrhea in Eastern China, the intestinal tract and fecal samples of sick and dead goat and sheep with diarrhea were examined by means of E.coli isolation and identification, phylogenetic grouping, virulence gene detection and drug sensitivity test. The results showed that a total 163 E.coli strains were isolated from 187 samples, of which the majority were classified into group B1 and group A, with detection rates of 59.51% and 28.83%, respectively. The detection rates of B2 and D groups were 9.82% and 1.84%, respectively. The results from 31 virulence genes detection showed that the detection rates of yijp, crlA, mat, ompA, fimC and ibeB were all greater than 87%. Virulence genes afa/draB and LT were not detected in all strains. fimC, mat, crlA, ibeB, yijp and ompA were widely present in all evolutionary groups. According to the results of virulence gene test, 72 strains were Shiga toxin-producing E.coli (STEC), which mainly carried virulence gene stx2. The detection rate of the other marker virulence gene eae was 61.11%. Drug sensitivity test results showed that the resistance rate of 4 and 13 out of the 16 antibacterial drugs tested was greater than 80% and 50%, respectively. Among the 163 strains, 150 were multi-drug resistant (MDR) ones, accounting for 92.02%, and most of them were resistant to five or more drug categories (84.05%). In conclusion, the results of this study indicated that the clinically prevalent E.coli strains from goat and sheep in eastern China were highly virulent, common and strong drug resistance. It provided a scientific basis for the prevention and control of E.coli in the farms in this region.

Key words: E.coli, goat and sheep, isolation and identification, phylogenetic group, virulence gene, multi-drug resistance

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