African Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 2 (9), pp. 322-324, September 2003

ISSN 1684-5315  © 2003 Academic Journals

Short Communication

Plasmid profile of Escherichia coli 0157:H7 from apparently healthy animals

Smith SI¹*, Aboaba OO², Odeigha P³, Shodipo K², Adeyeye JA³, Ibrahim A³, Adebiyi T¹, Onibokun H¹ and Odunukwe NN¹

¹Molecular Biology and Biotechnology Division, Nigerian Institute of Medical Research, P.M.B. 2013, Yaba, Lagos, Nigeria.

²Department of Microbiology, University of Lagos, Nigeria.

³Department of Cell Genetics, University of Lagos, Nigeria.

*Corresponding author; E-mail: stellaismith@yahoo.com, Fax: 00 2341 862 865.

Accepted 22 August 2003

One hundred samples from healthy animals were screened for the presence of enterohaemorrhagic Escherichia coli 0157: H7 and 17 were positive for EHEC 0157:H7 after confirmation using serology kits. Antibiotic susceptibility patterns showed the isolates to be highly susceptible to the various antibiotics screened with a few showing multiple antibiotic resistance. The plasmid profiles revealed that 8/17 (47%) of the animal isolates harboured detectable plasmids ranging in size from 0.564 kb to >23 kb.

Key words: Escherichia coli, EHEC, animals, plasmid profile.