EcoR Phylogenetic Analysis and Virulence Genotyping of Avian Pathogenic Escherichia coli Strains and Escherichia coli Isolates from Commercial Chicken Carcasses in Southern Brazil

Escherichia coli strains designated as avian pathogenic E. coli (APEC) are responsible for avian colibacillosis, an acute and largely systemic disease that promotes significant economic losses in poultry industry worldwide because of mortality increase, medication costs, and condemnation of carcasses. APEC is a subgroup of extraintestinal pathogenic E. coli pathotype, which includes uropathogenic E. coli, neonatal meningitis E. coli, and septicemic E. coli. We isolated E. coli from commercial chicken carcasses in a Brazilian community and compared by polymerase chain reaction-defined phylogenetic group (A, B1, B2, or D) with APEC strains isolated from sick chickens from different poultry farms. A substantial number of strains assigned to phylogenetic E. coli reference collection group B2, which is known to harbor potent extraintestinal human and animal E. coli pathogens, were identified as APEC (26.0%) in both commercial chicken carcasses and retail poultry meat (retail poultry E. coli [RPEC]) (21.25%). The majority of RPEC were classified as group A (35%), whereas the majority of APEC were groups B1 (30.8) and A (27.6%). APEC and RPEC presented the genes pentaplex, iutA, hly, iron, ompT, and iss, but with different virulence profiles. The similarity between APEC and RPEC indicates RPEC as potentially pathogenic strains and supports a possible zoonotic risk for humans.