Examination for heat-labile, heat-stable, and Shiga-like toxins and for the eaeA gene in Escherichia coli isolates obtained from dogs dying with diarrhea: 122 cases (1992-1996)
Turk, J.; Maddox, C.; Fales, W.; Ostlund, E.; Miller, M.; Johnson, G.; Pace, L.; Turnquist, S.; Kreeger, J.
Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association 212(11): 1735-1736
1998
ISSN/ISBN: 0003-1488 PMID: 9621880 Document Number: 496062
E. coli isolates from dogs that had diarrhoea at the time of death were tested by means of dot-blot hybridization of DNA extracts of cultured bacteria. Medical records of dogs from which E. coli isolates with virulence genes had been isolated were examined, and histological findings and evidence of intercurrent bacterial and viral infections were recorded. None of the E. coli isolates obtained from these dogs produced heat-labile, heat-stable, or Shiga-like toxins; however, E coli isolates from 44 of 122 (36%) dogs were found to have the eaeA gene. Histologically, multifocal bacterial adherence to the epithelium and epithelial necrosis and detachment were seen in colonic specimens from 20 of 44 (45%) dogs. E. coli was the sole pathogen identified in 15 of 44 (34%) dogs. Intercurrent pathogens, including canine parvovirus (19 dogs), Clostridium perfringens (8), rotavirus (5), hookworms (3), coccidia (3), and Salmonella agona (1), were identified in the remaining 29 (66%) dogs.