Muhammad Basit Rasheed1, Aitezaz Ahsan2, Hamid Irshad2*, Muhammad Armaghan Shahzad2, Muhammad Usman2, Aayesha Riaz3, Tamoor Hamid Chaudhry4, Afreenish Amir4, Mohsina Zubair5, Asghar Khan6, Arfan Yousaf6
1Jungle World Theme Park and Zoo, Army Heritage Foundation, Ayub National Park, Rawalpindi, Pakistan
2Animal Health Research Laboratories, Animal Sciences Institute, National Agricultural Research Centre (NARC), Islamabad, Pakistan
3Department of Pathobiology, Faculty of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, PMAS-Arid Agriculture University, Rawalpindi, Pakistan
4Public Health Laboratories Division, National Institute of Health, Islamabad, Pakistan
5National Environmental Quality Standard, Pakistan Environmental Protection Agency, Islamabad, Pakistan
6Department of Clinical Studies, Faculty of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, PMAS-Arid Agriculture University, Rawalpindi, Pakistan
Abstract
Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) are considered pathogens of zoonotic importance. Zoo animals have been reported as reservoirs of STEC and many STEC human outbreaks have been linked with zoo animals. Available information about the occurrence of STEC in zoo animals in Pakistan is limited. Therefore, the current study was executed to estimate the occurrence of STEC in zoo animals of two zoos of Rawalpindi and Islamabad cities in Pakistan. Total of 110 faecal samples were collected from 24 species of zoo animals. The samples were analysed for determination of eae, stx1, stx2, and ehxA genes using multiplex PCR. The positive samples for any of these genes were further analysed for isolation using sorbitol MacConkey agar. Out of 110 fecal samples, 15 samples (13.6%) contained targeted virulence genes (stx1, stx2, eae, ehxA). Six different combinations of virulence genes were observed in positive samples. Only two E. coli isolates with targeted virulence genes could be isolated from PCR positive samples. The study indicated that the wild animals maintained in zoos of Rawalpindi and Islamabad are carriers of STEC and may be the source of infection for humans.
Keywords: STEC, Wild animals, Zoo, Virulence genes, Pakistan