Ann. Méd. Vét., 2007, 151 (4), pp 215-246 Shigatoxin-producing Escherichia coli in foodborne infectionsCHAHED A., CHINA B., DAUBE G.Abstract :
Some Shigatoxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) are responsible for foodborne diseases including diarrhoea but also more severe syndromes involving
death in humans. They are zoonotic agents with bovine and other ruminants as the major reservoir. The major routes
of transmission are usually ingestion of contaminated food(under-cooked beef products or inpasteurised milk), contaminated water, person-to-person
contact and contact with animals
(especially cattle) and leur environment.
The major virulence factors of
Shigatoxins-producing E. coli are encoded by a pathogenesis island, the locus of enterocyte effacement involved in the attaching and effacing lesion
formation and in diarrhoea and the Shigatoxins encoded by bacteriophages and involved in extra-intestinal syndromes. The O157:H7 serotype STEC strain is responsible for outbreaks worldwide causing thousands of ills
and tens of deaths. Numerous diagnosis methods were developed to identify this pathogen from food. They include classical bacteriological, immunological
and molecular methods.
Hygiene control is particularly
important to avoid animal contamination
in farms and meat contamination in slaughterhouse.
Finally, risk assessment models have been developed in order to study the behaviour of STEC in the food chain. Get the PDF Contact person : georges.daube@ulg.ac.be |