Journal article
Super' or just ‘above average'? Supershedders and the transmission of Escherichia coli O157:H7 among feedlot cattle
Journal of the Royal Society interface, Vol.12(110), pp.0446-0446
09/06/2015
Handle:
https://hdl.handle.net/2376/115705
PMCID: PMC4614454
PMID: 26269231
Abstract
Supershedders have been suggested to be major drivers of transmission of
Escherichia coli
O157:H7 (
E. coli
O157:H7) among cattle in feedlot environments, despite our relatively limited knowledge of the processes that govern periods of high shedding within an individual animal. In this study, we attempt a data-driven approach, estimating the key characteristics of high shedding behaviour, including effects on transmission to other animals, directly from a study of natural
E. coli
O157:H7 infection of cattle in a research feedlot, in order to develop an evidence-based definition of supershedding. In contrast to the hypothesized role of supershedders, we found that high shedding individuals only modestly increased the risk of transmission: individuals shedding over 10
3
cfu g
−1
faeces were estimated to pose a risk of transmission only 2.45 times greater than those shedding below that level. The data suggested that shedding above 10
3
cfu g
−1
faeces was the most appropriate definition of supershedding behaviour and under this definition supershedding was surprisingly common, with an estimated prevalence of 31.3% in colonized individuals. We found no evidence that environmental contamination by faeces of shedding cattle contributed to transmission over timescales longer than 3 days and preliminary evidence that higher stocking density increased the risk of transmission.
Metrics
3 Record Views
Details
- Title
- Super' or just ‘above average'? Supershedders and the transmission of Escherichia coli O157:H7 among feedlot cattle
- Creators
- Simon E. F Spencer - University of WarwickThomas E Besser - Washington State UniversityRowland N Cobbold - University of QueenslandNigel P French - Massey University
- Publication Details
- Journal of the Royal Society interface, Vol.12(110), pp.0446-0446
- Academic Unit
- Veterinary Microbiology and Pathology, Department of
- Publisher
- The Royal Society
- Grant note
- P20-RR15587; P20-RR16454; U54-AI-57141 / ; The Beef Checkoff 2010-04487 / ;
- Identifiers
- 99900547419001842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Journal article