Prevalence and some virulence genes of Escherichia coli O157 isolated from chicken meats and giblets

Escherichia coli O157 related foodborne illnesses continue to be one of the most important global public health problems in the world. This study aims to determine E. coli O157 prevalence in 375 chicken meat parts and giblets. The samples were collected randomly from several supermarkets and butchers in Diyarbakir, a city in southeast Turkey. They were analyzed and confirmed using the immunomagnetic separation (IMS), Vitek^® 2 microbial identification system and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method. This study also aims to detect the presence of fliC_H7, eaeA, stx₁, stx₂ and hlyA genes by using PCR. The overall E. coli O157 prevalence in chicken meat parts and giblets was 1.3%. All of the E. coli O157 isolates carried rfbE_O157 and eaeA genes; but not any fliC_H7 and hlyA genes. The E. coli O157 isolates obtained from drumstick and breast meat carried either stx₁ or stx₂ genes, which were related to important virulence factors of the disease.