Occurrence of non-O157 shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli in ready-to-eat food from supermarkets in Argentina.

Between June 2000 and December 2001, 500 food samples were collected from supermarkets and shops selling ready-to-eat food in Rosario, Argentina, and examined for Escherichia coli. Forty-nine E. coli isolates from food samples were further characterized for virulence genes by multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) targeting the stx1, stx2, stx2e, eaeA, CNF1, CNF2, Einv, LTI, STI, and STII genes in four groups.