Occurrence and characterization of ESKAPE organisms on the hands of veterinary students before patient contact at a veterinary academic hospital, South Africa.

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the presence of ESKAPE organisms on the hands of students working in the intensive care unit (ICU) at a veterinary academic hospital.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among students working in an ICU at a veterinary academic hospital in South Africa. Students were sampled before the start of the ICU shift using a modified glove-juice method.

Antimicrobial growth promoters approved in food-producing animals in South Africa induce shiga toxin-converting bacteriophages from Escherichia coli O157:H7.

In this study, four antimicrobial growth promoters, including virginiamycin, josamycin, flavophospholipol, poly 2-propenal 2-propenoic acid and ultraviolet light, were tested for their capacity to induce stx-bacteriophages in 47 Shiga toxin-producing E. coli O157:H7 isolates. Induced bacteriophages were characterized for shiga toxin subtypes and structural genes by PCR, DNA restriction fragment length polymorphisms (RFLP) and morphological features by electron microscopy.

Occurrence, Serotypes and Virulence Characteristics of Shiga-Toxin-Producing Isolates from Goats on Communal Rangeland in South Africa.

Shiga-toxin-producing is a foodborne pathogen commonly associated with human disease characterized by mild or bloody diarrhea hemorrhagic colitis and hemolytic uremic syndrome. This study investigated the occurrence of STEC in fecal samples of 289 goats in South Africa using microbiological culture and PCR. Furthermore, 628 goat STEC isolates were characterized by serotype (O:H) and major virulence factors by PCR.

Occurrence and characterization of seven major Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli serotypes from healthy cattle on cow-calf operations in South Africa.

Cattle are a major reservoir of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli. This study investigated the occurrence of seven major STEC serogroups including O157, O145, O103, O121, O111, O45 and O26 among 578 STEC isolates previously recovered from 559 cattle. The isolates were characterized for serotype and major virulence genes.