Verotoxin-producing Escherichia coli: An emerging pathogen which endanger the health of people and animals

Abstract

A new group of pathogenic agents has appeared in the last 20 years -verotoxin-producing Escherichiae coli (VTEC), which cause increasing numbers of intestinal diseases in humans and animals. The reservoir for VTEC is the intestinal tract of domestic animals, primarily ruminants. It is believed that cattle are the principal reservoir for VTEC, because the biggest number of epidemics caused by these bacteria occurred through ground beef (hamburgers). Swine are also a significant factor of VTEC infections in humans, but these pathogenic agents are more frequently isolated from diseased animals than healthy ones, and most often from swine with a clinical picture of an endemic disease. Investigations in our geographic region have also demonstrated that domestic animals are a significant VTEC reservoir. In spite of this, sporadic diseases in humans caused by these agents are rare, and no epidemics have been registered so far. Such a characteristic of VTEC infections in our country imposes the need for further epidemiological and epizootiological research.

Keywords

• Vertoxin
• Escherichia coli
• VTEC
• domestic animals
• reservoir