Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2017 Jun;80(6):990-993.
doi: 10.4315/0362-028X.JFP-16-531.

Prevalence of Escherichia coli O157 Shedding in Preweaned Calves on Colorado Dairies

Chloe Stenkamp-Strahm  1 , Craig McConnel  2 , Doreene R Hyatt  1 , Roberta Magnuson  1 , Paige Tenneson  1 , Lyndsey Linke  1
Affiliations

Prevalence of Escherichia coli O157 Shedding in Preweaned Calves on Colorado Dairies

Chloe Stenkamp-Strahm et al. J Food Prot. 2017 Jun.

Abstract

To gain insight into a potential age-related predisposition for Escherichia coli pathogen shedding on dairies, this pilot study measured the prevalence of E. coli O157 (ECO157) in the feces of preweaned dairy calves. An aim of this study was to link these outcomes with the concurrent environmental presence of ECO157 and dam ECO157 shedding elucidated in a parallel study. Recto-anal mucosal swabs and a subset of fecal grab samples were collected from calves (2 to 8 weeks of age; n = 399) monthly between December 2013 and June 2014 on three dairies in northern Colorado. A subset of calf dams (n = 111) were also sampled via fecal grab. Concurrently, environmental samples were collected from locations within the vicinity of the calves: farm tractor tires, steering wheels, hutches, buckets, and gloves from the research technicians and the employees involved in calf rearing. The presence of ECO157 and virulence genes was measured in the samples and confirmed via PCR. Of the calves, only 1 (0.25%) of 399 individuals shed during the time period, and the ECO157 strain detected carried no measured virulence genes (eaeA, stx1, and stx2). No difference was seen in detection between the recto-anal mucosal swabs and the fecal grab technique. In contrast, 32% (35 of 111) of the dams shed ECO157, with 1.8% (2 of 111) of the shed isolates containing virulence genes. No ECO157 was detected in the environmental samples. These outcomes demonstrate a disparity between dam and calf ECO157 shedding and indicate that preweaned calves, managed similarly to those of this study, probably have a minor influence on dairy contamination and the transmission of ECO157.

Keywords: Calves; Dairy; O157; Shedding.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). 2012. National Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) surveillance: surveillance overview. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, CDC, Atlanta.
    1. Cho S, Fossler CP, Diez-Gonzalez F, Wells SJ, Hedberg CW, Kaneene JB, Ruegg PL, Warnick LD, and Bender JB. 2013. Herd-level risk factors associated with fecal shedding of Shiga toxin-encoding bacteria on dairy farms in Minnesota, USA. Can. Vet. J. 54(7):693–697. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Cobbold RN, and Desmarchelier P. 2000. A longitudinal study of Shiga-toxigenic Escherichia coli (STEC) prevalence in three Australian diary herds. Vet. Microbiol. 71:125–137. - PubMed
    1. Cobbold RN, Hancock DD, Rice DH, Berg J, Stilborn R, Hovde CJ, and Besser TE. 2007. Rectoanal junction colonization of feedlot cattle by Escherichia coli O157:H7 and its association with supershedders and excretion dynamics. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 73:1563–1568. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Cray WC, and Moon HW. 1995. Experimental infection of calves and adult cattle with Escherichia coli O157:H7. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 61:1586–1590. - PMC - PubMed