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ENTEROPATHOGENIC ESCHERICHIA COLI O157 IN BANGUI AND N’GOILA, CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC: A BRIEF REPORT

Escherichia coli O157:H7 producing Shiga like toxins is a food-borne pathogen frequently isolated in Bangui from patients with hemorrhagic colitis (HC). This survey provides comprehensive data on the high prevalence of E. coli O157:H7 infection in Bangui: carriage of E. coli O157:H7 by zebu (Bos indicus) and fish, contamination of the fields at N’Goila where the butchers kill the zebus, and contamination of the field surface water along the M’Poko River upstream of the Oubangui River where fish are caught, appear to be important contributory factors. We also describe novel strains of serogroup O157:NM isolated from zebu and from fish; a variety of assays indicate that these strains belong to the enteropathogenic pathotype, though they lack certain genetic elements thought to be diagnostic for this pathotype.

Received September 14, 2005. Accepted for publication April 6, 2006.

Acknowledgments: We are grateful to Xavier Konamna, Rémy Zenguela, Oronoutchou Victor, and Jean-Robert Mbeko for technical assistance. The authors thank John Rhode for critical review of the manuscript.

^* Address correspondence to Yves Germani, Institut Pasteur, Unité Pathogénie Microbienne Moléculaire / Réseau International des Instituts Pasteur, 25 – 28 rue du Dr Roux, 75724 Paris Cedex 15. E-mail: ygermani{at}pasteur.fr

Authors’ addresses: Dinh Thi Ngoc Tuyet, Malika Gouali, Claudine Békondi, and Yves Germani, Institut Pasteur de Bangui, Boîte Poste 923, Bangui, Central African Republic. Simon Yassibanda, Hôpital de l’Amitié, Service de Gastro-entérologie, Boîte Postale 1377, Bangui, Central African Republic. Phuong L. Nguyen Thi, Institut Pasteur d’Ho Chi Minh Ville, 167 Duong Pasteur, Q3 Ho Chi Minh Ville, Vietnam. Marcel Remale Koyenede, Agence Nationale de Développement et de l’Elevage, BP 169, Bangui, Central African Republic. Malika Gouali and Jean Mazzi, Laboratoire National de Santé Publique et de Biologie Clinique, BP 373, Bangui, Central African Republic.

Reprint requests: Dr. Yves Germani, Institut Pasteur, Unité Pathogénie Microbienne Moléculaire / Réseau International des Instituts Pasteur, 25 – 28 rue du Dr Roux, 75724 Paris Cedex 15, Telephone: 33 (0)1 44 38 95 76, Fax: 33 (0)1 45 68 89 53. E-mail: ygermani{at}pasteur.fr.