Abstract
This study was carried out to investigate the presence and virulence properties of Escherichia coli O157, Escherichia coli O157:H7 in some foods of animal origin (minced meat, Carra and Surk cheeses) and to determine the monthly and seasonal distribution of the isolates. A total of 71 traditional cheeses (35 Surk, 36 Carra) and 60 minced meat samples were collected. Immunomagnetic separation based cultural technique and PCR were used for the isolation and identification of E. coli O157:H7. Overall, 17 (13%) and 16 (12.2%) of 131 food samples were found to be contaminated with E. coli O157 and E. coli O157:H7, respectively. Intimin was determined as the most common virulence factor, since the majority (83.3%) of isolates harbouring the eaeA gene. Stx2 gene was only detected in two (6.6%) isolates recovered from minced meat samples. In this study, isolates were obtained from the samples at most in spring. These results indicate that the presence of virulent E. coli O157:H7 strains in minced meat and traditional cheeses can be a potential risk for human infections.