Síndrome urémico hemolítico debido a Escherichia coli 048:H21 productora de Toxina Shiga-like en el Sur Australia

Escherichia coli enterohemorrágica (EHEC) a excepción de los serotipos O157:H7 se reconocen cada vez más en la asociación con Síndrome Urémico Hemolítico (HUS) y han sido informados en Australia. Mientras que detectar cepas de O157:H7 ha llegado a ser más fácil a través de los años, identificando un número en expansión de otros serotipos de EHEC también asociados con HUS; con otras condiciones, y con animales domésticos saludables es todavía muy difícil.Facultad de Ciencias Veterinaria

Síndrome urémico hemolítico debido a Escherichia coli 048:H21 productora de Toxina Shiga-like en el Sur Australia

Escherichia coli enterohemorrágica (EHEC) a excepción de los serotipos O157:H7 se reconocen cada vez más en la asociación con Síndrome Urémico Hemolítico (HUS) y han sido informados en Australia. Mientras que detectar cepas de O157:H7 ha llegado a ser más fácil a través de los años, identificando un número en expansión de otros serotipos de EHEC también asociados con HUS; con otras condiciones, y con animales domésticos saludables es todavía muy difícil.Facultad de Ciencias Veterinaria

Distribution of Class 1 Integrons with IS26-Mediated Deletions in Their 3′-Conserved Segments in Escherichia coli of Human and Animal Origin

Class 1 integrons play a role in the emergence of multi-resistant bacteria by facilitating the recruitment of gene cassettes encoding antibiotic resistance genes. 512 E. coli strains sourced from humans (n = 202), animals (n = 304) and the environment (n = 6) were screened for the presence of the intI1 gene. In 31/79 integron positive E. coli strains, the gene cassette regions could not be PCR amplified using standard primers. DNA sequence analysis of 6 serologically diverse strains revealed atypical integrons harboured the dfrA5 cassette gene and only 24 bp of the integron 3′-conserved segment (CS) remained, due to the insertion of IS26. PCR targeting intI1 and IS26 followed by restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis identified the integron-dfrA5-IS26 element in 27 E. coli strains of bovine origin and 4 strains of human origin. Southern hybridization and transformation studies revealed the integron-dfrA5-IS26 gene arrangement was either chromosomally located or plasmid borne. Plasmid location in 4/9 E. coli strains and PCR linkage of Tn21 transposition genes with the intI1 gene in 20/31 strains, suggests this element is readily disseminated by horizontal transfer

Molecular Characterization of a 21.4 Kilobase Antibiotic Resistance Plasmid from an α-Hemolytic Escherichia coli O108:H- Human Clinical Isolate

This study characterizes the 21.4 kilobase plasmid pECTm80 isolated from Escherichia coli strain 80, an α hemolytic human clinical diarrhoeal isolate (serotype O108:H-). DNA sequence analysis of pECTm80 revealed it belonged to incompatibility group X1, and contained plasmid partition and toxin-antitoxin systems, an R6K-like triple origin (ori) replication system, genes required for replication regulation, insertion sequences IS1R, ISEc37 and a truncated transposase gene (Tn3-like ΔtnpA) of the Tn3 family, and carried a class 2 integron. The class 2 integron of pECTm80 contains an intact cassette array dfrA1-sat2, encoding resistance to trimethoprim and streptothricin, and an aadA1 gene cassette truncated by the insertion of IS1R. The complex plasmid replication system includes α, β and γ origins of replication. Pairwise BLASTn comparison of pECTm80 with plasmid pE001 reveals a conserved plasmid backbone suggestive of a common ancestral lineage. Plasmid pECTm80 is of potential clinical importance, as it carries multiple genes to ensure its stable maintenance through successive bacterial cell divisions and multiple antibiotic resistance genes

Escherichia coli and Community-acquired Gastroenteritis, Melbourne, Australia

Atypical strains of enteropathogenic E. coli are a leading cause of gastroenteritis in Melbourne

Treatment of enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) infection and hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS)

Verotoxigenic Escherichia coli (VTEC) are a specialized group of E. coli that can cause severe colonic disease and renal failure. Their pathogenicity derives from virulence factors that enable the bacteria to colonize the colon and deliver extremely powerful toxins known as verotoxins (VT) or Shiga toxins (Stx) to the systemic circulation. The recent devastating E. coli O104:H4 epidemic in Europe has shown how helpless medical professionals are in terms of offering effective therapies. By examining the sources and distribution of these bacteria, and how they cause disease, we will be in a better position to prevent and treat the inevitable future cases of sporadic disease and victims of common source outbreaks. Due to the complexity of pathogenesis, it is likely a multitargeted approach is warranted. Developments in terms of these treatments are discussed

American Radical Economists in Mao’s China: From Hopes to Disillusionment

American radical economists in the 1960s perceived China under Maoism as an important experiment in creating a new society, aspects of which they hoped could serve as a model for the developing world. But the knowledge of ‘actually existing Maoism’ was very limited due to the mutual isolation between China and the US. This paper analyses the First Friendship Delegation of American Radical Political Economists (FFDARPE) to the People’s Republic of China in 1972, consisting mainly of Union for Radical Political Economics (URPE) members, which was the first visit of a group of American economists to China since 1949. Based on interviews with trip participants as well as archival and published material, this paper studies what we can learn about the engagement with Maoism by American radical economists from their dialogues with Chinese hosts, from their on-the-ground observations, and their reflection upon return. We show how the visitors’ own ideas conflicted and intersected with their perception of the Maoist practice on gender relations; workers’ management and life in the communes. We also shed light on the diverging conceptions of the role for economic expertise between URPE and late Maoism. As the first in-depth study on the FFDARPE we provide rich empirical insights into an ice-breaking event in the larger process of normalization in the Sino-U.S relations, that ultimately led to the disillusionment of the Left with China

Bovine Feces from Animals with Gastrointestinal Infections Are a Source of Serologically Diverse Atypical Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli and Shiga Toxin-Producing E. coli Strains That Commonly Possess Intimin

Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) and enteropathogenic E. coli (EPEC) cells were isolated from 191 fecal samples from cattle with gastrointestinal infections (diagnostic samples) collected in New South Wales, Australia. By using a multiplex PCR, E. coli cells possessing combinations of stx(1), stx(2), eae, and ehxA were detected by a combination of direct culture and enrichment in E. coli (EC) (modified) broth followed by plating on vancomycin-cefixime-cefsulodin blood (BVCC) agar for the presence of enterohemolytic colonies and on sorbitol MacConkey agar for the presence of non-sorbitol-fermenting colonies. The high prevalence of the intimin gene eae was a feature of the STEC (35 [29.2%] of 120 isolates) and contrasted with the low prevalence (9 [0.5%] of 1,692 fecal samples possessed STEC with eae) of this gene among STEC recovered during extensive sampling of feces from healthy slaughter-age cattle in Australia (M. Hornitzky, B. A. Vanselow, K. Walker, K. A. Bettelheim, B. Corney, P. Gill, G. Bailey, and S. P. Djordjevic, Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 68:6439-6445, 2002). Forty-seven STEC serotypes were identified, including O5:H−, O8:H19, O26:H−, O26:H11, O113:H21, O157:H7, O157:H− and Ont:H− which are known to cause severe disease in humans and 23 previously unreported STEC serotypes. Serotypes Ont:H− and O113:H21 represented the two most frequently isolated STEC isolates and were cultured from nine (4.7%) and seven (3.7%) animals, respectively. Fifteen eae-positive E. coli serotypes, considered to represent atypical EPEC, were identified, with O111:H− representing the most prevalent. Using both techniques, STEC cells were cultured from 69 (36.1%) samples and EPEC cells were cultured from 30 (15.7%) samples, including 9 (4.7%) samples which yielded both STEC and EPEC. Culture on BVCC agar following enrichment in EC (modified) broth was the most successful method for the isolation of STEC (24.1% of samples), and direct culture on BVCC agar was the most successful method for the isolation of EPEC (14.1% samples). These studies show that diarrheagenic calves and cattle represent important reservoirs of eae-positive E. coli