Category Archives: EAEC

RASFF Alert – Outbreak – E.coli – Sweden -Parsley

Posted on December 15, 2023 by | Leave a comment

RASFF

Parsley suspected to be the source of an outbreak with pathogenic E. coli (ETEC/EPEC/EAEC) in Sweden

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Posted in EAEC, EPEC, ETEC E.coli, food bourne outbreak, Food Illness, Foodborne Illness, foodborne outbreak, foodbourne outbreak, Illness, outbreak, RASFF

Swedish E. coli cases linked to imported parsley

Posted on December 13, 2023 by | Leave a comment

Food Safety News

Contaminated parsley imported from southern Europe has been linked to at least 150 E. coli cases in Sweden.

Over 100 people were infected by Enterotoxigenic E.coli (ETEC) and Enteropathogenic E. coli (EPEC) after eating food during a conference in Jönköping at the end of October. A similar outbreak sickened 50 people in Stockholm.

In Stockholm, people were infected around the same time at a restaurant that served parsley from the same producer. This led health officials to believe it was likely parsley from Italy that caused the outbreaks.

A total of 104 participants at the conference reported they had suffered illness. Samples were taken from four cases. Analysis showed they were infected with different combinations of pathogenic E. coli such as ETEC, EPEC, and Enteroaggregative E. coli (EAEC).

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Posted in E.coli, EAEC, EPEC, ETEC E.coli, food bourne outbreak, Food Illness, Foodborne Illness, foodborne outbreak, foodbourne outbreak, Illness, outbreak

Research – Comparative efficiency of carbohydrates on the biofilm-forming ability of enteroaggregative Escherichia coli

Posted on February 12, 2022 by | Leave a comment

Wiley Online

The biofilm-forming ability of microbes is often correlated with drug resistance; however, this association among enteroaggregative Escherichia coli (EAEC) strains remains naïve. Moreover, the investigations exploring uptake and assimilation of sugars either qualitatively or quantitatively by the biofilm-forming EAEC strains have not yet been documented. Hence, this study investigated the role of various categories of sugars (monosaccharides, disaccharides, and polysaccharide) on the biofilm-forming ability of three each of multi-drug-resistant (MDR) as well as non-MDR typical EAEC strains. The EAEC strains exhibited black colonies on congo red agar (CRA) with monosaccharides and disaccharides, whereas all the strains exhibited red colonies on CRA with the polysaccharide. Although significant (p < 0.001) biofilm-forming ability was observed by all the EAEC strains in sugar-dependent microtiter plate assay, color change from pink to orange and yellow was noticed in presence of monosaccharides and disaccharide, while absent in polysaccharides. Besides, significantly higher bacterial counts were observed in presence of monosaccharides and disaccharides (p < 0.01); however, such significant bacterial counts were not noticed with the polysaccharide. Further, the real-time PCR data exhibited comparatively higher relative expression of biofilm-associated fis gene among EAEC strains grown in presence of monosaccharides, followed by disaccharide and polysaccharide, respectively that concurred with the flow cytometry data. No significant (p > 0.05) difference was observed in the biofilm-forming ability between MDR- and non-MDR EAEC strains. This study illustrated the role of carbohydrates on the biofilm-forming ability of EAEC and warranted utmost attention concerning the usage of carbohydrates in food processing industries, for its incorporation as functional food additives.

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Posted in antimicrobial resistance, Antimicrobials, Biofilm, Decontamination Microbial, EAEC, escherichia coli, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology Blog, Food Microbiology Research, microbial contamination, Microbiological Risk Assessment, Microbiology, Microbiology Investigations, Research

Research – Presumptive probiotic bacteria from traditionally fermented African food challenge the adhesion of enteroaggregative E. coli

Posted on May 19, 2021 by | Leave a comment

Wiley Online

E.coli

Colonization of intestinal tract with the potential to exclude, displace, and inhibit enteric pathogens is principally dependent on the adhesion ability of probiotics. Therefore, probiotic efficacy is considered to be mainly determined by their adhesion ability. The current study reports the antagonistic effect of four lactic acid bacteria (LAB) on the adhesion profile of four diarrhoeagenic and one non‐diarrhoeagenic enteroaggregative Escherichia coli (EAEC). All the bacterial strains investigated adhered to the Caco‐2 cells. All the LAB tested competitively excluded, displaced, and inhibited at least three (non‐) diarrhoeagenic EAEC strains from adhesion (p < 0.05). In all, Lactobacillus plantarum, FS2 exhibited the strongest adhesion to the Caco‐2 cells, competitive exclusion (CE), displacement, and inhibition against most of the EAEC strains. Additionally, the competence to exclude, displace, and inhibit the EAEC from adhesion depended on both the pathogens and the LAB strains tested; signifying the participation of several mechanisms. Contrary to all the EAEC strains, gastro‐intestinal stress factors such as low pH (2.5) had no effect on the adhesion of the LAB. Unlike the gastro‐intestinal acidic conditions, bile salt conditioning (at pH 6.5) had no effect on the adhesion of both EAEC and LAB. In conclusion, all the LAB tested showed specific anti‐adherence effects including CE, displacement, and inhibition against the selected EAEC. The results indicate that all the LAB, particularly, the L. plantarum, FS2 had a good ability for exerting antagonistic effects against the selected EAEC for the prevention of gastrointestinal infection.

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Posted in E.coli, EAEC, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Microbiology Blog, Food Microbiology Research, Food Microbiology Testing, LAB, lactic acid bacteria, microbial contamination, Microbiological Risk Assessment, Microbiology, Research, STEC, STEC E.coli