Prevalence of the enteroaggregative Escherichia coli heat-stable enterotoxin 1 (EAST1) gene in isolates in weaned pigs with diarrhea and/or edema disease

A total of 476 Escherichia coli isolated from weaned pigs with diarrhea and /or edema disease were screened for the presence of the enteroaggregative E . coli heat-stable enterotoxin 1 (EAST1) gene by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). E. coli strains that carried EAST1 genes were also tested by PCR for the presence of genes for five fimbriae (F4, F5, F6, F18 and F41), two hea t-stable (STa and STb) and one heat-labile (LT) enterotoxin, and Shiga toxi n 2e (Stx2e). One hundred and forty nine (31.3%) of the 476 E. coli isolate s carried the gene for EAST1. Of these 149 isolates, 66 (44.3%) carried the east1 gene only and 83 (55.7%) carried genes for the fimbrial adhesins or enterotoxins. E. coli which carried east1 gene also possessed genes for STa or F4 frequently. EAST1 may represent an additional determinant in the pat hogenesis of E. coli diarrhea in weaned pigs. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V . All rights reserved.