Prevalence of virulence factors in enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli isolated from pigs with post-weaning diarrhoea in Europe

BACKGROUND: Post-weaning diarrhoea (PWD), due to Escherichia coli, is an important cause of economic losses to the pig industry primarily as a result of mortality and worsened productive performance. In spite of its relevance, recent data about the prevalence of virulence genes and pathotypes among E. coli isolates recovered from cases of PWD in Europe are scarce. RESULTS: This study investigates the prevalence of fimbrial and toxin genes of E. coli by PCR among 280 farms with PWD across Europe. A total of 873 samples collected within the first 48 h after the onset of PWD (occurring 7–21 days post weaning) were submitted to the laboratory for diagnostic purposes. Isolation and identification of E. coli were performed following standard bacteriological methods and PCR assays for the detection of genes encoding for fimbriae (F4, F5, F6, F18 and F41) and toxins (LT, STa, STb and Stx2e). The prevalence of fimbriae and toxins among E. coli isolates from cases of PWD was: F4 (45.1 %), F18 (33.9 %), F5 (0.6 %), F6 (0.6 %), F41 (0.3 %), STb (59.1 %), STa (38.1 %), LT (31.9 %) and Stx2e (9.7 %). E. coli isolates carrying both fimbrial and toxin genes were detected in 52.5 % of the cases (178 out of 339 isolates), with 94.9 % of them being classified as enterotoxigenic E. coli (ETEC). The most common virotype detected was F4, STb, LT. CONCLUSIONS: This study confirms that ETEC is frequently isolated in pig farms with PWD across Europe, with F4- and F18-ETEC variants involved in 36.1 % and 18.2 % of the outbreaks, respectively.