

@article {14014,
	title = {Enumeration of {Escherichia} coli {O}157 in cattle faeces using most probable number technique and automated immunomagnetic separation},
	journal = {Lett Appl Microbiol},
	volume = {38},
	number = {1},
	year = {2004},
	pages = {56{\textendash}59},
	abstract = {AIMS: To determine the numbers of Escherichia coli O157 present in the faeces of naturally infected cattle. METHODS AND RESULTS: A combination of the most probable number (MPN) technique and automated immunomagnetic separation (AIMS) was used to enumerate E. coli O157 in cattle faeces from both pasture-fed and grain-fed animals. A total of 22 E. coli O157 positive faecal samples were enumerated for E. coli O157 (10 from pasture-fed and 12 from grain-fed animals). The numbers of E. coli O157 in cattle faeces varied from undetectable ({\textbackslash}textless3 MPN g-1 of faeces) to 2.4 x 104 MPN g-1. There was no significant difference (P = 0.06) between the numbers of E. coli O157 in pasture-fed or grain-fed cattle faeces, although the geometric mean (antilog of the mean of log10 transformed MPN values) was higher in grain-fed (130 MPN g-1) than in pasture-fed (13 MPN g-1). CONCLUSIONS: Although the number of samples tested is small, the results indicate that E. coli O157 make up a small proportion of the total E. coli population present in cattle faeces. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: Information on the numbers of E. coli O157 present in cattle will assist in developing more robust quantitative risk assessments and formulating intervention strategies.},
	doi = {1439 [pii]},
	author = {Fegan, N and Higgs, G and Vanderlinde, P and Desmarchelier, P}
}
