Table 2. Presence of Escherichia coli O26 and/or its virulence genes in bulk milk or curd samples collected in the Apulia region, Italy, 20 August to 13 September 2013.
| Dairy planta | Confirmed cases associated with the dairy plant | Number and type of samples associated with the dairy plants | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Samples positive for stx, eae and wzxO26 genes | Samples with E. coli O26 isolation | |||||
| n | n | Type of matrix | n | Type of matrix | Characteristics of the strain | |
| A | 3 | 3 | 1 curd, 2 bulk milkb | 1 | curd | E. coli O26 stx-, eae + |
| B | 2 | 1 | bulk milkb | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| C | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| D | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| E | 1 | 6 | 4 curd, 2 bulk milk | 2 | milk, curd | E. coli O26 stx-, eae + |
| F | 1 | 1 | bulk milk | 1 | milk | E. coli O26 stx-, eae + |
| Other dairy farms | Not possible to determine | 2 | bulk milkc | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 16 | 12 | 5 curd, 7 bulk milkc | 4 | 2 milk, 2 curd |
E. coli O26 stx-, eae + |
E. coli: Escherichia coli.
a Samples were collected directly at the plant or at dairy farms supplying milk to the plant.
b One bulk milk sample was from a farm that supplied both plant A and B.
c Two samples were positive for stx genes only.
Samples were from dairy plants linked with confirmed cases of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli O26 infection or dairy farms supplying milk to the plants.