Molecular and Serological Characteristics of Avian Pathogenic Escherichia coli Isolated from Various Clinical Cases of Poultry Colibacillosis in Poland

Abstract

Escherichia coli infections are a major problem in modern poultry production. Avian pathogenic E. coli (APEC) strains have several mechanisms that enable them to colonize various ecosystems. In this study, 290 E. coli isolates were recovered from clinical cases of colibacillosis in chicken and turkey broilers and from laying and breeding hens. The samples were taken from organs with pathological changes suggesting colibacillosis. The lesions were assigned to three groups depending on their advancement, of which the largest (60% of the isolates) was group 3, with the most extensive changes. The most common serotype was shown to be O78 (14%). The most frequently detected gene among those tested was iss, while papC was the least prevalent. An analysis of the number of genes present per isolate revealed that the presence of four genes was the most common (22%), while only 1% of the strains tested had all eight genes. The most frequently detected genes for each serotype were iss and iucD for O78; irp2 and cvi/cva for O1; irp2, iucD, and iss for O2, and iss and iucD for O8, for which the least frequent was papC. All O18 serotype strains had the iss gene, while none had the vat gene.