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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, September 2004, p. 5331-5335, Vol. 70, No. 9
0099-2240/04/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/AEM.70.9.5331-5335.2004
Copyright © 2004, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Transmission and Infectious Dose of Escherichia coli O157:H7 in Swine

N. A. Cornick* and A. F. Helgerson

Department of Veterinary Microbiology and Preventative Medicine, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa

Received 1 December 2003/ Accepted 16 May 2004

Escherichia coli O157:H7 is only occasionally isolated from healthy swine, but some experimentally infected animals will shed the organism in their feces for at least 2 months. Potential explanations for the paucity of naturally occurring infections in swine, as compared to cattle, include a lack of animal-to-animal transmission so that the organism cannot be maintained within a herd, a high infectious dose, or herd management practices that prevent the maintenance of the organism in the gastrointestinal tract. We hypothesized that donor pigs infected with E. coli O157:H7 would transmit the organism to naïve pigs. We also determined the infectious dose and whether housing pigs individually on grated floors would decrease the magnitude or duration of fecal shedding. Infected donor pigs shedding <104 CFU of E. coli O157:H7 per g transmitted the organism to 6 of 12 naïve pigs exposed to them. The infectious dose of E. coli O157:H7 for 3-month-old pigs was approximately 6 x 103 CFU. There was no difference in the magnitude and duration of fecal shedding by pigs housed individually on grates compared to those housed two per pen on cement floors. These results suggest that swine do not have an innate resistance to colonization by E. coli O157:H7 and that they could serve as a reservoir host under suitable conditions.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: 2130 Veterinary Medicine Building, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011. Phone: (515) 294-6499. Fax: (515) 294-8500. E-mail: ncornick{at}iastate.edu.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, September 2004, p. 5331-5335, Vol. 70, No. 9
0099-2240/04/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/AEM.70.9.5331-5335.2004
Copyright © 2004, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Cornick, N. A., VuKhac, H. (2008). Indirect Transmission of Escherichia coli O157:H7 Occurs Readily among Swine but Not among Sheep. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 74: 2488-2491 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Sonntag, A.-K., Bielaszewska, M., Mellmann, A., Dierksen, N., Schierack, P., Wieler, L. H., Schmidt, M. A., Karch, H. (2005). Shiga Toxin 2e-Producing Escherichia coli Isolates from Humans and Pigs Differ in Their Virulence Profiles and Interactions with Intestinal Epithelial Cells. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 71: 8855-8863 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


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