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 Bacterial Diseases - COLIBACILLOSIS

(Colibacteriosis, colitoxemia, white scours, gut edema of swine)

AGENT:

Escherichia coli are gram-negative, aerobic, and facultatively anaerobic medium-sized rods.

RESERVOIR AND INCIDENCE

Worldwide; some endemic areas exist in developing countries.

TRANSMISSION:

Some serotypes are species-specific, others are not. Milk, milk products, and meat products can contain pathogenic serotypes. Foods of animal origin and contact with dogs and cats have been indicated as sources of infection for children.

DISEASE IN ANIMALS:

Calf diarrhea (white scours) is an acute disease causing mortality in calves less than 10 days old. It manifests itself as serious diarrhea, with whitish feces and rapid dehydration. Mastitis caused by E. coli appears especially in older cows with dilated milk ducts. A long-term study of horse fetuses and newborn colts found that close to 1% of abortions and 5% of deaths of newborns were due to E. coli. Neonatal enteritis caused by E. coli in suckling pigs begins 12 hours after birth with a profuse watery diarrhea, and may end with fatal dehydration. Edema in suckling pigs (gut edema) is an acute disease that generally attacks between 6 and 14 weeks of age. It is characterized by sudden onset, incoordination, and edema of the eyelids, the cardiac region of the stomach, and sometimes other parts of the body. During septicemic diseases of fowl, such as cases of salpingitis and pericarditis, pathogenic serotypes of E. coli have been isolated. A colibacillary etiology has also been attributed to Hjarre's disease (coligranuloma), which is a condition in adult fowl characterized by granulomatous lesions in the liver, cecum, spleen, bone marrow, and lungs.

DISEASE IN HUMANS:

The enterotoxigenic stains (ETEC) cause profuse and watery diarrhea, abdominal colic, vomiting, acidosis, and dehydration. Enteroinvasive strains cause a dysenteric syndrome with mucoid diarrhea, at times tinged with blood. E. coli is also an important agent of urogenital infections.

DIAGNOSIS:

Stool culture or immunoassays for enterotoxins.

TREATMENT:

Ciprofloxacin or trimethoprim-sulfa.

PREVENTION/CONTROL:

With respect to man, control measures include: a) personal cleanliness and hygienic practices, sanitary waste removal and b) protection of food products. Vaccines for swine and bovine have been developed.