{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,22]],"date-time":"2026-10-22T17:38:22Z","timestamp":1792690702904,"version":"4.5.0"},"reference-count":50,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"7","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,6,29]],"date-time":"2023-06-29T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1687996800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100011003","name":"Instituto Nacional de Investigaci\u00f3n Agropecuaria","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["PL-15"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["PL-15"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100011003","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Microorganisms"],"abstract":"<jats:p>In Uruguay, the mortality of dairy calves due to infectious diseases is high. Escherichia coli is a natural inhabitant of the intestinal microbiota, but can cause several infections. The aim of the work was to characterize E. coli isolates from intestinal and extraintestinal origin of dead newborn calves. Using PCR, virulence gene characteristics of pathogenic E. coli were searched. The pathogenic E. coli were molecularly characterized and the phylogroup, serogroup and the Stx subtype were determined. Antibiotic susceptibility was determined using the Kirby\u2013Bauer disk diffusion method and plasmid-mediated quinolone resistance (PMQR) genes with PCR. Finally, clonal relationships were inferred using PFGE. Gene characteristics of the Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC), Enteropathogenic E. coli (EPEC) and Necrotoxigenic E. coli (NTEC) were identified. The prevalence of the iucD, afa8E, f17, papC, stx1, eae and ehxA genes was high and no f5, f41, saa, sfaDE, cdtIV, lt, sta or stx2 were detected. The prevalence of STEC gene stx1 in the dead calves stood out and was higher compared with previous studies conducted in live calves, and STEC LEE+ (Enterohemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC)) isolates with stx1\/eae\/ehxA genotypes were more frequently identified in the intestinal than in the extraintestinal environment. E. coli isolates were assigned to phylogroups A, B1, D and E, and some belonged to the O111 serogroup. stx1a and stx1c subtypes were determined in STEC. A high prevalence of multi-resistance among STEC and qnrB genes was determined. The PFGE showed a high diversity of pathogenic strains with similar genetic profiles. It can be speculated that EHEC (stx1\/eae\/ehxA) could play an important role in mortality. The afa8E, f17G1 and papC genes could also have a role in calf mortality. Multidrug resistance defies disease treatment and increases the risk of death, while the potential transmissibility of genes to other species constitutes a threat to public health.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/microorganisms11071704","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,6,30]],"date-time":"2023-06-30T00:51:06Z","timestamp":1688086266000},"page":"1704","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":11,"title":["Shiga Toxin-Producing Escherichia coli (STEC) Associated with Calf Mortality in Uruguay"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"11","author":[{"given":"Magal\u00ed","family":"Fern\u00e1ndez","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Departamento de Microbiolog\u00eda, Instituto de Investigaciones Biol\u00f3gicas Clemente Estable, Avenida Italia 3318, Montevideo 11600, Uruguay"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mar\u00eda Laura","family":"Casaux","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Plataforma de Investigaci\u00f3n en Salud Animal, Instituto Nacional de Investigaci\u00f3n Agropecuaria (INIA), Estaci\u00f3n Experimental INIA La Estanzuela, Ruta 50, Km 11, Colonia 70000, Uruguay"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3390-9723","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Mart\u00edn","family":"Fraga","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Plataforma de Investigaci\u00f3n en Salud Animal, Instituto Nacional de Investigaci\u00f3n Agropecuaria (INIA), Estaci\u00f3n Experimental INIA La Estanzuela, Ruta 50, Km 11, Colonia 70000, Uruguay"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Rafael","family":"Vignoli","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Departamento de Bacteriolog\u00eda y Virolog\u00eda, Facultad de Medicina, UdelaR, Av Alfredo Navarro 3051, Montevideo 11600, Uruguay"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"In\u00e9s","family":"Bado","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Departamento de Bacteriolog\u00eda y Virolog\u00eda, Facultad de Medicina, UdelaR, Av Alfredo Navarro 3051, Montevideo 11600, Uruguay"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Pablo","family":"Zunino","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Departamento de Microbiolog\u00eda, Instituto de Investigaciones Biol\u00f3gicas Clemente Estable, Avenida Italia 3318, Montevideo 11600, Uruguay"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5897-0400","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ana","family":"Umpi\u00e9rrez","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Departamento de Microbiolog\u00eda, Instituto de Investigaciones Biol\u00f3gicas Clemente Estable, Avenida Italia 3318, Montevideo 11600, Uruguay"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,6,29]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"123","DOI":"10.1038\/nrmicro818","article-title":"Pathogenic Escherichia coli","volume":"2","author":"Kaper","year":"2004","journal-title":"Nat. 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