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Page No. : 11-15

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to investigate the shigatoxigenic Escherichia coli (STEC)serotypes in meat and their products. A total of 254 Samples were collected from cattle and their ready-to-eat products from different slaughter houses, butcher shops and street vendors of Bareilly and Rampur districts of Uttar Pradesh, India. Among 37 identified Escherichia coli, 26serogrotypes (one isolate of each serotype from each sample type) were screened for cytopathic effect (CPE). Of them, 13 serogroups produced CPE on Vero cell lines when subjected to cytotoxic assay. The highest prevalence of STEC was found in raw beef samples and in ready-to-eat beef rolls. Thus the contaminated foods of animal origin may be potential source of infection and may cause diarrhea, urinary tract infection (UTI), hemorrhagic colitis (HC) and hemorrhagic uremic syndrome (HUS) in humans.

Keywords: Beef, ready –to- eat beef rolls, shigatoxigenic Escherichia coli