Abstract

Objective: To detect and characterize Escherichia coli (E. coli) O157:H7 in feral pigeons in Qom province, Iran. Methods: In this survey, 290 cloacal samples were obtained from trapped feral pigeons in Qom province. Microbiological, biochemical and serological examinations were done to detect the E. coli O157:H7. Isolates were subjected to multiplex polymerase chain reaction for the detection of stx1, stx2, eaeA and hlyA genes. Results: Four samples (1.38%) were positive for E. coli O157:H7 by using O157 and H7 antisera and only one E. coli O157:H7 strain isolated showed the presence of stx1, stx2, eaeA and hlyA genes. Conclusions: The results of present survey revealed that feral pigeons in Qom province had the potential to be a reservoir of E. coli O157:H7. The low prevalence of E. coli O157:H7 can be attributed to sampling each pigeon just once and fecal culture limits, and true prevalence of the E. coli O157:H7 might be higher than our findings.

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