Isolation of Escherichia coli O157:H7 in Poultry by Culture, Serology and Polymerase Chain Reaction Technique in Jos, North Central Nigeria

Escherichia coli O157:H7 is an important human pathogen capable of causing food borne infections with severe consequences of haemorrhagic colitis (HC), haemolytic uraemic syndrome (HUS) and haemolytic thrombocytopaenic purpura. Information about isolation and characterisation of the organism in poultry in North Central Nigeria is lacking. An isolation and characterisation of E. coli O157:H7 was carried out in four hundred and thirty- three (433) samples (167 fresh faeces, 217 cloacal and 49 laryngeal swabs) from intensively reared chicken from 20 farms in Jos, Central Nigeria. Microbiological culture, serology and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) methods were used. Out of the 433 samples, 26 (6%) of the isolates were phenotypically identified as E. coli O157:H7 on cefixime-tellurite Sorbitol MacConkey (CT-SMAC) agar. None of the isolates was positive by serology using Wellcolex* Escherichia coli O157:H7 kit R30959601 (Remel Europe Ltd, Dartford Kent UK) and for rfbEO157 and fliCh7; the defining genes for E. coli O157:H7 serotype on further molecular analysis. Of the 26 isolates, 5 (19.2%) were from fresh faeces while 19 (73.1%) and 2 (7.7%) were from cloacal and laryngeal swabs respectively. Although E. coli O157:H7 was phenotypically found, we could not ascertain if intensively reared chicken in Jos habour E. coli O157:H7 based on the absence of serotype specific genes rfbEO157 and fliCh7 by PCR analysis.Key words: Escherichia coli O157:H7, poultry, polymerase chain reaction (PCR), cefiximetellurite Sorbitol MacConkey (CT-SMAC) agar