Prevalence and Impact of Bacteriophages on the Presence of Escherichia coli O157:H7 in Feedlot Cattle and Their Environment

The relationship between endemic bacteriophages infecting E. coli O157:H7 (referred to as "phage") and levels of shedding of E. coli O157:H7 by cattle was investigated in two commercial feedlots in southern Alberta, Canada. Between May and November 2007, 10 pens of cattle were monitored by...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Applied and Environmental Microbiology 2009-03, Vol.75 (5), p.1271-1278
Main Authors: Niu, Y.D, McAllister, T.A, Xu, Y, Johnson, R.P, Stephens, T.P, Stanford, K
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Alberta
Animals
Biological and medical sciences
Cattle
Coliphages - isolation & purification
Colony Count, Microbial
Data processing
E coli
Environmental science
Escherichia coli
Escherichia coli O157 - isolation & purification
Escherichia coli O157 - virology
Factory farming
Feces - microbiology
Feces - virology
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Livestock industry
Manures
Microbiology
Public Health Microbiology
Seasons
Sewage - microbiology
Sewage - virology
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Summary:The relationship between endemic bacteriophages infecting E. coli O157:H7 (referred to as "phage") and levels of shedding of E. coli O157:H7 by cattle was investigated in two commercial feedlots in southern Alberta, Canada. Between May and November 2007, 10 pens of cattle were monitored by collection of pooled fecal pats, water with sediment from troughs, manure slurry from the pen floor, and rectal fecal samples from individual animals (20 per pen) at two separate times. Bacteriophages infecting E. coli O157:H7 were detected more frequently (P < 0.001) after 18 to 20 h enrichment than by initial screening and were recovered in 239 of 855 samples (26.5% of 411 pooled fecal pats, 23.8% of 320 fecal grab samples, 21.8% of 87 water trough samples, and 94.6% of 37 pen floor slurry samples). Overall, prevalence of phage was highest (P < 0.001) in slurry. Recovery of phage from pooled fecal pats was highest (P < 0.05) in May. Overall recovery did not differ (P > 0.10) between fecal grab samples and pooled fecal pats. A higher prevalence of phage in fecal pats or water trough samples was associated (P < 0.01) with reduced prevalence of E. coli O157:H7 in rectal fecal samples. There was a weak but significant negative correlation between isolation of phage and E. coli O157:H7 in fecal grab samples (r = -0.11; P < 0.05). These data demonstrate that the prevalence of phage fluctuates in a manner similar to that described for E. coli O157:H7. Phage were more prevalent in manure slurry than other environmental sources. The likelihood of fecal shedding of E. coli O157:H7 was reduced if cattle in the pen harbored phage.
ISSN:0099-2240
1098-5336
1098-6596
DOI:10.1128/AEM.02100-08