ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Vet. Sci.
Sec. One Health
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fvets.2025.1557445
This article is part of the Research TopicOne Health Approach in Addressing Microbial Food-Safety ChallengesView all 7 articles
Toxin-producing Escherichia coli: a long-term retrospective study in dogs and cats, 2017 -2023, Italy
Provisionally accepted
Giovanna De Luca1
Giorgia Costantini1
Luca Borrelli2Pasquale Izzo1Nunzia Riccone1Francesca Del Piano1Ornella Valvini1Amalia Gallo1Clementina Auriemma1
Flora Alfano1Marco Paone1
Giovanni Sgroi1*
Peyman Khademi3
Nicola D'Alessio1
Giovanna Fusco1
Maria Gabriella Lucibelli1- 1Experimental Zooprophylactic Institute of Southern Italy (IZSM), Portici, Italy
- 2University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Campania, Italy
- 3Lorestan University, Khorramabad, Lorestan, Iran
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Introduction: Toxin-producing Escherichia coli are gastrointestinal agents of animals and humans, potentially responsible for mild to severe pathogenic outcomes. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the prevalence of toxin-producing E. coli in populations of owned and stray dogs and cats from Southern Italy, to provide insights into the epidemiology of these zoonotic bacterial infections. Methods: From 2017 to 2023, organ swabs (i.e., intestine, liver, lung, spleen, lymph node, and brain) from dogs and cats during necropsy activities were collected and analysed for isolating E. coli colonies through bacterial culture. The isolated strains were then subjected to biomolecular investigation for pathogenicity factors. Results: On 911 animals, 451 (49.5%) tested positive for E. coli, being 252 (56.1%) dogs and 199 (43.1%) cats, respectively. The higher prevalence of dogs was statistically significant (p<0.01) combined to a higher risk of get infected (OR=1.69); no significant statistically difference of prevalence according to the years was found (p=0.150). At least one virulence factor was detected in 22% of animals (i.e., 12% for pathogenicity factors CNF, CDT, LT, ST, whereas 10% for virulence genes (vtx1, vtx2, eae); cats were significantly more suitable to verocytotoxin production compared to dogs (p=0.020, OR=2.04).Discussion: These findings report a wide circulation of toxin-producing E. coli in dogs and cats of Southern Italy, underlying the importance of routine screening for these agents in order to guarantee animal welfare and public health.
Keywords: cat, dog, Escherichia coli, Italy, Public Health, toxin
Received: 08 Jan 2025; Accepted: 18 Apr 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 De Luca, Costantini, Borrelli, Izzo, Riccone, Piano, Valvini, Gallo, Auriemma, Alfano, Paone, Sgroi, Khademi, D'Alessio, Fusco and Lucibelli. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Giovanni Sgroi, Experimental Zooprophylactic Institute of Southern Italy (IZSM), Portici, Italy
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