Non-toxigenic Escherichia coli O157:H7 strain NCTC12900 causes attaching-effacing lesions and eae-dependent persistence in weaned sheep.

Ruminants are regarded as a primary reservoir for Escherichia coli O157:H7, an important human pathogen. Intimin, encoded by the Locus of Enterocyte Effacement by E. coli O157:H7 organisms, has been cited as one bacterial mechanism of colonisation of the gastrointestinal tract.

Attaching and effacing lesions caused by Escherichia coli O157:H7 in experimentally inoculated neonatal lambs.

Four 6-day-old conventionally reared lambs were inoculated orally with a total of 10(9) cfu comprising equal numbers of four enterohaemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) O157:H7 strains. All animals remained clinically normal. Tissues were sampled under terminal anaesthesia at 12, 36, 60 and 84 h post inoculation (hpi).