Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli O157 Strains from Brazil

We describe two serogroup O157 Escherichia coli strains from Brazilian infants with diarrhea. A variety of assays indicate that these strains belong to the enteropathogenic, not the enterohemorrhagic, pathotype. These strains possess a novel bfpA allele encoding the type IV pilin characteristic of typical enteropathogenic E. coli strains. Our results emphasize the pitfalls of classifying pathogenic E. coli by serogroup