Haemolytic–uraemic syndrome caused by a non-O157 : H7 Escherichia coli strain in experimentally inoculated dogs

Abstract

Both O157 : H7 and non-O157 : H7 Escherichia coli strains are reported to cause haemolytic–uraemic syndrome (HUS). This study was carried out to explore the pathogenicity of O157 : H7 and non-O157 : H7 E. coli strains in experimentally inoculated dogs. Twenty 40-day-old dogs were randomly divided into four groups, and the groups (n=5) were administrated orally with E. coli O157 : H7 strains HJ2001-1 (from a patient with serious haemorrhagic diarrhoea) and HZ2001-4 (from a domestic sheep kept in the house of a patient who died from diarrhoea and subsequent acute renal failure), HZ2001-9 (a non-O157 : H7 strain, from a 6-month-old child who died from diarrhoea and subsequent acute renal failure) or a control strain, EC8099. HJ2001-1 and HZ2001-4 caused slight diarrhoea, and the dogs recovered without any complications. However, HZ2001-9 resulted in watery diarrhoea accompanied with slightly bloody stools, followed by death on the fifth or sixth day. In the fatally infected experimental animals, necrotic lesions in the liver and bacterial embolism in the kidney were observed. The primary cause of death was microvascular thrombosis caused by the bacteria, leading to renal and multiple organ failure. Therefore, the non-O157 : H7 E. coli strain HZ2001-9 causes clinical signs and pathological lesions in dogs that are consistent with those in acute renal failure or HUS in humans.