Paddock, Zachary Dean2013-05-022013-05-022013-05-02http://hdl.handle.net/2097/15732Escherichia coli O157:H7 and over 380 non-O157 serotypes of Shiga toxin producing E. coli (STEC) are human food-borne pathogens that inhabit the hindgut of ruminants and are shed in the feces, which subsequently contaminate food products. Recent epidemiological data have shown that six non-O157 STEC (O26, O103, O111, O121, O45 and O145) account for majority of human STEC infections. Fecal shedding of STEC is influenced by a number of factors, including diets, supplements, and feed additives, because of their potential to alter hindgut ecosystem. Not much is known about the fecal shedding of non-O157 STEC in cattle because of lack of standardized detection methods. Fecal shedding of E. coli O157:H7 was studied to determine the effects of supplemental urea, monensin, an ionophore, and ractopamine, a beta-agonist. Cattle fed monensin at 44 mg/kg of feed had lower (P = 0.05) fecal O157:H7 prevalence than cattle fed 33 mg/kg. Supplemental urea (0.35 or 0.70% of the diet) and inclusion of ractopamine at 200 mg/animal/day had no effect on fecal shedding of E. coli O157:H7. In an experimental inoculation study, inclusion of corn starch to a distiller’s grains (DG)-supplemented diet had no effect on fecal shedding of E. coli O157 suggesting that either the decreased starch content in the DG-supplemented diet is not a factor in the increased shedding of E. coli O157:H7 or inclusion of pure starch in the diet may not have achieved our intended goal to have starch flow into the hindgut similar to that of corn grain. A multiplex PCR to detect O26, O45, O103, O111, O121, O145, and O157 was designed and applicability to detect the seven serogroups in cattle feces was evaluated. A multiplex PCR, designed to detect E. coli O104, feces showed presence of O104 in cattle feces (20.6%), but the isolated strains did not carry genes characteristic of the virulent strain responsible for the 2011 food-borne outbreak in Germany. Two preharvest interventions, a siderophore receptor and porin proteins-based vaccine and a Lactobacillus acidophilus-based direct-fed microbial, intended to control E. coli O157, had no effect on fecal shedding of O26 assessed by culture-based or PCR-based method.en-US© the author. This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/Pre-Harvest Food SafetyE. coliCattleDissertationAnimal Sciences (0475)Veterinary Medicine (0778)