Phenotypic and genotypic characterizations of Escherichia coli Isolated from veal meats and butchers’ shops in Mosul city, Iraq

Abstract

Foodborne pathogens bacteria can cause various diseases and death worldwide. Escherichia coli is the most crucial microorganism transmitted through meat and its products. Pathogenic E. coli is one of the major groups that can produce the Stx1 and Stx2 toxins. The present study aims to isolate and identify the E. coli bacteria using the classical methods, and to detect the specific-species uidA gene, and Stx1 and Stx2 genes using the PCR assay. Five hundred four samples were collected randomly from meats and different parts of a butcher shops from various regions of the right and the left sides of Mosul city. The results found that the prevalence rate of E. coli in this study was 27.4% (138/504). Additionally, the prevalence rate of E. coli was higher in meat, 41.7% (35/84). At the same time, the prevalence rate of E. coli was lower in hook 16.7% (14/84). Additionally, the prevalence rate of E. coli in meats and butcher shops on the right and left sides of Mosul city was 31.9% (65/204) and 24.3% (73/300), respectively. Furthermore, all E. coli isolates possessed the specific species uidA gene. 30/138 (21.7%) of E. coli isolates possess the Stx1 gene, while 17/138 (12.3%) of E. coli isolates have the Stx2 gene. Finally, most E. coli isolates possessed the Stx1 and Stx2 genes 91/138 (66%).