Micro

International Journal of Food Microbiology 134 (2009) 196–200

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International Journal of Food Microbiology
j o u r n a l h o m e p a g e : w w w. e l s ev i e r. c o m / l o c a t e / i j f o o d m i c r o

Prevalence and classification of pathogenic Escherichia coli isolated from fresh beef,
poultry, and pork in Korea
Gi Yun Lee a,1, Hye In Janga, In Gyun Hwang b, Min Suk Rhee a,⁎
a
b

Division of Food Bioscience and Technology, College of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, Korea University, 5-1 Anam-dong, Sungbuk-gu, Seoul, 136-713, South Korea
Division of Food Microbiology, Korea Food and Drug Administration, 5 Nokbon-dong, Eunpyung-gu, Seoul, 122-020, South Korea

article

info

Article history:
Received 12 February 2009Receive in revised form 13 June 2009
Accepted 20 June 2009
Keywords:
Escherichia coli
Prevalence
Fresh meat
Multiplex PCR
O-serogroup

abstract
Foodborne diseases occur worldwide, including through the consumption of contaminated meat. This study
was conducted to investigate the prevalence of Escherichia coli contamination in fresh beef, poultry, and pork,
and to determine whether anyisolated E. coli possessed genes associated with pathogenicity. Three thousand
meat samples were collected from 2004 to 2006 and were tested for the presence of E. coli. Two hundred and
seventy-three E. coli isolates were obtained from beef, poultry, and pork, resulting in an overall isolation rate
of 9.1%. Of these isolates, 201 were obtained from 1350 pork samples (14.9%), followed by 41 of 900poultry
samples (4.6%) and 31 of 750 beef samples (4.1%). A total of 39 pathogenic E. coli isolates from the three meat
types were categorized into three virulence groups, namely enterotoxigenic E. coli (43.6%), enterohemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC) (35.9%; 22.6% of beef, 7.3% of poultry, and 2.0% of pork), and enteropathogenic E. coli
(20.5%). Fourteen strains were identified as belonging to theEHEC, which included O18, O136, O119, O86, O8,
O111, O15, O128, and O6. This study demonstrated that pathogenic E. coli are found in meat in Korea, and
could act as a transmission vehicle for human infection as suggested by the occurrence and classification of
pathogenic E. coli in retail meats. Furthermore, the data from this study could be used in the risk assessment
of foodborne illnesseslinked to meat consumption.
Crown Copyright © 2009 Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
The microbiological safety of meat products is an important public
health concern. Numerous epidemiological reports have identified
pathogenic Escherichia coli, particularly E. coli O157:H7, as major cause
of disease outbreaks associated with contaminated meat (Meng and
Doyle,1998; Olsvik et al., 1991). In particular, pathogenic E. coli has
raised concern for human infection because of its potential to cause
severe diarrheal symptoms (Calderwood et al., 1996). Shiga toxinproducing E. coli (STEC) has been involved in large outbreaks in the
United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Japan (Coia et al.,
2001; NIH, Japan, 1996; Pradel et al., 2000). In Korea,outbreaks caused
by pathogenic E. coli have gradually increased from 4.4% (2003) to
12.2% (2007) (KFDA, 2007).
Strains of pathogenic E. coli, which have acquired virulence factors, have the ability to cause diarrheal disease in human. These
pathotypes are generally classified into the following 5 heterogenous
groups based on their virulence traits (Lopez-Saucedo et al., 2003;
Nataro and Kaper, 1998):enterotoxigenic E. coli (ETEC), enteropatho-

⁎ Corresponding author. Tel.: +82 2 3290 3058; fax: +82 2 925 1970.
E-mail address: rheems@korea.ac.kr (M.S. Rhee).
1
Present address: Korea Livestock Products HACCP Accreditation Service, 572-5,
Gyeonggi Venture Anyang Science College, Anyang 8-dong, Manan-gu, Anyang-si,
Gyeonggi-do, South Korea.

genic E. coli (EPEC), enterohemorrhagic E....