Molecular detection of Escherichia coli isolated from camel milk in Nineveh governorate

Abstract

Camel’s milk is an extraordinary food with high nutritional value and has therapeutic uses due to its powerful antioxidants. Camels resist many diseases, but bacterial pathogens may cause serious diseases such as mastitis (clinical or subclinical mastitis). Escherichia coli is considered the most essential cause of camel mastitis. This study used conventional isolation and PCR methods to isolate E. coli from camel milk and detect virulence factors, such as (Stx2 and Stx1). Fifty milk samples were obtained from camels with a single hump in the sparsely populated Badia Al Jazeera area of Al-Anbar and Nineveh provinces over a period ranging from February to May 2023. This study used the classical methods (media and biochemical methods) to isolate and identify E. coli and used the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay to detect the uidA, Stx1, and Stx2 genes. The result explained the ability to isolate E. coli in 66% of camels who suffer from subclinical mastitis. Further analysis of the virulence gene reveals that different E. coli isolates can bear Stx1 and/ or Stx2 with 63% and 27%, respectively. The study concluded that the ability to isolate E. coli harboring many different virulence genes with a higher percentage of Stx1 than Stx2 is a public health concern.

Keywords

• mastitis
• camel
• e. coli
• pcr technique