Even with advancements in pre- and post-harvest food safety, Shiga toxin-producing
Escherichia coli (STEC) still present challenges to human health. Since cattle are the primary
reservoir for STEC, lowering the prevalence of this pathogen in farm animals may reduce
STEC outbreaks in humans. However, because many of the factors that modulate the
colonization and persistence of STEC in cattle remain unknown, reducing STEC in this host
is challenging. In this study, we evaluated a cohort of beef cattle one to eleven years of
age to determine the effect of animal age on the prevalence of STEC. During the first year
of sample collection, heifers had significantly lower STEC prevalence than cows (37.5%
vs. 70%). In the second year of sample collection, STEC prevalence peaked in cows that were
two years of age and tended to decrease as animals became older. In addition, by studying
a subset of the animals in both years, we observed an increase in STEC prevalence from
40.6% to 53.1% in heifers, whereas cows had a net decrease in STEC prevalence from 71.4%
to 61.9%. The results from this study indicate that animal age is a significant factor that
influences the prevalence of STEC in cattle. These findings have implications for the
development of on-farm mitigation strategies by targeting animals with the highest risk of
shedding; it could be possible to reduce pathogen transmission among cattle and prevent
zoonotic or foodborne transmission to humans.
Even with advancements in pre- and post-harvest food safety, Shiga toxin-producingEscherichia coli (STEC) still present challenges to human health. Since cattle are the primaryreservoir for STEC, lowering the prevalence of this pathogen in farm animals may reduceSTEC outbreaks in humans. However, because many of the factors that modulate thecolonization and persistence of STEC in cattle remain unknown, reducing STEC in this hostis challenging. In this study, we evaluated a cohort of beef cattle one to eleven years ofage to determine the effect of animal age on the prevalence of STEC. During the first yearof sample collection, heifers had significantly lower STEC prevalence than cows (37.5%vs. 70%). In the second year of sample collection, STEC prevalence peaked in cows that weretwo years of age and tended to decrease as animals became older. In addition, by studyinga subset of the animals in both years, we observed an increase in STEC prevalence from40.6% to 53.1% in heifers, whereas cows had a net decrease in STEC prevalence from 71.4%to 61.9%. The results from this study indicate that animal age is a significant factor thatinfluences the prevalence of STEC in cattle. These findings have implications for thedevelopment of on-farm mitigation strategies by targeting animals with the highest risk ofshedding; it could be possible to reduce pathogen transmission among cattle and preventzoonotic or foodborne transmission to humans.
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