소매시장에서 판매하는 돼지고기와 닭고기에서 분리된 Escherichia coli의 병원성 인자

The aim of this study was to investigate the virulence factor profiles of Escherichia coli strains isolated from pork and chicken meats purchased from retail markets in Korea. From 943 pork and 142 chicken meats, 217 isolates of E. coli were cultured. The presence of 11 virulence factors (elt, estI, estII, astA, stx, cdt, cnf, agg, inve, eae, afa) were detected by polymerase chain reaction. Forty one (18.9%) of 217 E. coli isolates carried at least one virulence factor. Among 175 E. coli isolates from pork, the detection rate of astA, elt, eae, estII, estI, afa, and cnf were 6.9%, 4.6%, 4.6%, 4.0%, 2.3%, 1.1%, and 0.6%, respectively. However, stx, agg, and cdt were not detected in our isolates. Therefore, we conclude that astA is the most prevalent virulence factor in E. coli isolates contaminated in pork and chicken meats in Korea.