Occurrence of verocytotoxin-producing Escherichia coli in the faeces of free-ranging wild lagomorphs in southwest Spain

Verocytotoxin-producing Escherichia coli (VTEC) is an important group of emerging food-borne pathogens and represents a major public health concern worldwide. The aim of this work was to analyse faecal samples from hunted wild lagomorphs for the presence of E. coli O157:H7 and non-O157 VTEC. During two hunting seasons, faecal samples from 241 animals were collected, including wild rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) and hare (Lepus granatensis) and were examined for VTEC. Overall, VTEC were detected and isolated in four (1. 66%) of the 241 animals sampled. E. coli O157:H7 was isolated only from one of 124 (0. 81%) wild rabbit faecal samples while non-O157 VTEC were isolated from two of 124 (1. 61%) wild rabbit faecal samples and one of 117 (0. 85%) hare faecal samples. VTEC isolates obtained in the present study (four in total) belonged to four different O:H serotypes, including two serotypes (O84:H- and O157:H7) previously associated with human infection and in particular with causing the life-threatening haemolytic-uraemic syndrome. Although these results indicate a low prevalence of VTEC infection in free-ranging wild lagomorphs, they may play an important role as a source of exposure to human beings and livestock and as a vehicle for dispersing these pathogens. These findings have implications for the zoonotic risk to hunters, people consuming meat from wild animals and others in contact with wild animal faeces, and also in the development of programmes for controlling VTEC at the farm level.
This study was partially supported by grants from the Junta de Extremadura and FEDER (grants 3PR05A009-III Plan Regional de Investigación and PRI09A022). R. Martínez acknowledges the Junta de Extremadura for his research fellowship (PRE06053). S. Sánchez acknowledges the Consejería de Educación y Ciencia de la Junta de Comunidades de Castilla-La Mancha and Fondo Social Europeo for his research fellowship (09/02-C).