Serotypes and virulence factors of Escherichia coli strains isolated from dogs and cats

E. coli strains isolated from urine of dogs and cats with urinary tract inf ections (UTI) and from feces of healthy one's were serotyped, and the serot ypes were correlated with uropathogenic virulence factors. The most prevale nt O-serotypes, O4 and O6, were isolated from dogs and cats with UTI. In co ntrast, O11 and O102 strains were the most frequently found from feces of h ealthy dogs and cats. Most of type O4 and O6 strains possessed such virulen ce factors as pil, pap, bh, hly, and cnfl, while most type O11 and O102 str ains pil only or pil and aer. All strains of type O75 possessed afaI end ae r. K1 antigen was negative in all strains obtained from UTI.