Identification of Escherichia coli and study of relationship between Pathotypes in human clinical specimens and samples of meat, dairy and vegetable by Polyclonal Antisera

Diarrheal diseases are a major health problem worldwide، especially in developing countries are considered. One of the most important agents of diarrhea are Escherichia coli which responsible for many deaths of infants. Contamination of water and food is the main cause of human infection with this bacterium. The aim of this study was to identify pathotypes of E. coli، isolated from human clinical specimens، samples of meat، dairy and vegetables using polyvalent antisera to determine the relationship between the origins of the contamination of the samples. For this purpose، 40 samples from hospital clinical specimens، meat products، milk and salad sampled and sent to the laboratory for food control selected and confirmed by Imvic test and their pathogenicity with polyvalent antisera were studied. According to the results، 35% of clinical specimens، 17. 5% of meat، 2. 5% of milk samples and 17. 5% of salad and vegetables were identified as vector of pathogenic Escherichia coli. So، E. coli could be introduced as a common agent of infant diarrhea in our country. Thus، food hygiene and food control necessity demands for the control of presence of pathogenic E. coli.