Abstract
Aim: The study was carried out to detect and characterize Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli and antibiotic resistance properties in diarrheic dogs and cats.
Materials and Methods: A total 90 rectal swabs were collected from diarrheic dogs (n= 70) and cats (n= 20) from different localities of Alexandria and screened for the presence of pathotypes of E.coli using culture, serological and molecular identification methods.
Results: In this study, a total of 33 (36.6%) E. coli isolated and identified {26 isolates from dogs (37.1%) and 7 isolates from cats (35%)}. Hemolytic activity revealed 8 (6 from dogs and 2 from cats) and 4 (3 from dogs and 1 from cats) isolates with Alpha (α) and Beta (β) hemolysis respectively. Serotyping of these 12 isolates revealed 2 (16.6%) were positive poly 2 (O:127 K63 ), 1 (8% ) isolate was positive poly 3 ( O:164 K-) , 1 (8%) isolate was positive poly 1 (O:26 k 60) and 8 (66.6%) isolates were serotyped as positive poly one. Polymerase chain reactions (PCR) revealed that the eaeA gene was found in 4 (33.3%) isolates {3 from dogs (33.3%) and 1 from cat (33.3%). However, none of the isolates were positive for Heat-labile (LT) and heat-stable (STa) enterotoxin genes, shiga toxin one (Stx1) and shiga toxin two (Stx2) genes and bundle-forming pili (Bfp) gene. The highest rate of senstivity was observed for Amikacin and Ofloxacin. However, the highest rate of resistance was observed for Cephalexin and Ampicillin sulbactam.