Avian-pathogenic Escherichia coli strains are similar to neonatal meningitis E. coli strains and are able to cause meningitis in the rat model of human disease

Abstract

Escherichia coli strains causing avian colibacillosis and human neonatal meningitis, urinary tract infections, and septicemia are collectively known as extraintestinal pathogenic E. coli (ExPEC). Characterization of ExPEC strains using various typing techniques has shown that they harbor many similarities, despite their isolation from different host species, leading to the hypothesis that ExPEC may have zoonotic potential. The present study examined a subset of ExPEC strains: neonatal meningitis E. coli (NMEC) strains and avianpathogenic E. coli (APEC) strains belonging to the O18 serogroup. The study found that they were not easily differentiated on the basis of multilocus sequence typing, ..