Frequency of virulence factors in Escherichia coli isolated from pigs with postweaning diarrhea and edema disease in North Carolina

Abstract

Polymerase chain reaction for five fimbriae (K88, K99, 987P, F41, F18), two heatstable enterotoxins (STa, STb), one heatlabile enterotoxin (LT), and Shiga-like toxin type II (SLT) was performed on Escherichia coli isolates to determine their genotype among isolates from weaned pigs with diarrhea and/or edema disease in North Carolina. A total of 175 isolates were tested. All but two isolates possessed genes for at least one of the enterotoxins or fimbrial adhesins. Nearly all (94.86%) of the isolates that carried enterotoxin genes also carried genes for one of the fimbrial adhesins. The two predominant genotypes were K88 LT STb and F18 STa STb SLT, respectively.